Gut Microbiome Differences Antedate JIA Development Save

Researchers have shown that gut microbiome differences may be associated with later development of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), and that such differences are present years before the disease is diagnosed.

Scientists from the University of Florida and Sweden, analyzed stool samples from children in a long-term study called All Babies in Southeast Sweden (n = 17,055), where 111 of later acquired JIA. Stool samples were collected at one year of age for 10.4%. To determine disease association, 16S rRNA gene sequences of stool samples were analyzed, and they also assessed genetic and environmental risks.

Children who later went on to develop JIA had a higher abundance of Acidaminococcales, Prevotella 9, and Veillonella parvula and lower abundance of Coprococcus, Subdoligranulum, Phascolarctobacterium, Dialister spp., Bifidobacterium breve, Fusicatenibacter saccharivorans, Roseburia intestinalis, and Akkermansia muciniphila (q’s < 0.05). 

Parabacteroides distasonis greatly increased the odds of later contracting JIA (OR = 6.7; 1.81–24.84, p = 0.0045). Shorter breastfeeding duration and increased antibiotic exposure compounded risk in a dose-dependent manner, especially in those with genetic predisposition.

While other studies have shown microbial differences in children already diagnosed with JIA, this study is the first to demonstrate that these differences are present years before children first show symptoms of the disease.

The current study only looked at a snapshot of the gut microbiome at one year of age, so future work may investigate how the gut microbiome of children with JIA progresses over time.

These data suggest the gut microbiome in infancy may trigger or accelerate JIA development and may also be influenced by environmental and genetic risk factors. This study is the first to implicate microbial dysregulation in JIA at such an early age, with many bacterial taxa associated with risk factors.

Source: Erik Kindgren, Angelica P. Ahrens, Eric W. Triplett, Johnny Ludvigsson. Infant gut microbiota and environment associate with juvenile idiopathic arthritis many years prior to disease onset, especially in genetically vulnerable children. eBioMedicine, 2023; 93: 104654 DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2023.104654