Systemic lupus erythematosus is the most common form of lupus, and is an autoimmune disorder in which the body attacks its own tissues, leading to widespread inflammation. The disorder causes skin rashes, joint pain or swelling, and extreme fatigue, and tends to cycle between periods in which symptoms are milder, and flares when symptoms are far more severe. Now scientists have found that there is sometimes an increase in the number of gut bacteria called Ruminococcus blautia gnavus while lupus patients were having flares. The findings have been reported in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases.
In this very small study, researchers compared the gut microbes from lupus patients to healthy volunteers. They determined that over a four-year period, five of the sixteen lupus patients in the study had blooms of R. gnavus while they were also experiencing a disease flare. Four of the patients that carried R. gnavus blooms also had the most severe forms of lupus.
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