12/04/2025
🧠 Your gut may be quietly shaping your risk of multiple sclerosis.
In a new twin study, researchers analyzed gut microbes from 81 pairs of identical twins in which only one sibling had multiple sclerosis (MS). They identified 51 bacterial types that differed in abundance between twins, then transferred selected gut microbiota into mice engineered to develop an MS-like disease.
Two species stood out: Eisenbergiella tayi and bacteria from the Lachnoclostridium genus, both part of the Lachnospiraceae family. Mice colonized with these microbes were more likely to develop MS-like symptoms, strongly implicating these bacteria as potential environmental triggers. Because identical twins share the same genes, the work zeroes in on the microbiome as a key non-genetic factor in MS risk.
The findings support the idea that signals from the gut can misdirect the immune system, leading it to attack nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. While the results rely heavily on mouse models and need confirmation in humans, they open a path toward future therapies that modify the gut microbiome to prevent or slow MS.
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📄 RESEARCH PAPER
📌 Yoon S-J et al, "Identification of disease-facilitating gut bacteria in multiple sclerosis using monozygotic twins and gnotobiotic mice", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2025)
