Reduces the Severity of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis in Mice by Modulating Gut Microbiota.

The gut microbiome plays an important role in immune function and has been implicated in multiple sclerosis (MS). However, how and if the modulation of microbiota can prevent or treat MS remain largely unknown. In this study, we showed that probiotic DSM 17938 () ameliorated the development of murine experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a widely used animal model of MS, a model which is primarily mediated by T17 and T1 cells. We discovered that treatment reduced T1/T17 cells and their associated cytokines IFN-γ/IL-17 in EAE mice. We also showed that the loss of diversity of gut microbiota induced by EAE was largely restored by treatment. Taxonomy-based analysis of gut microbiota showed that three "beneficial" genera , and were negatively correlated with EAE clinical severity, whereas the genera , and were positively correlated with disease severity. Notably, treatment coordinately altered the relative abundance of these EAE-associated taxa. In conclusion, probiotic changed gut microbiota to modulate immune responses in EAE, making it a novel candidate in future studies to modify the severity of MS.