Shaping gut microbiota through a dietary intervention to regulate neuroinflammatory and degenerative processes in MS

Start Term
End Term
Funding Amount
$300,000
Affiliation(s)
Centre de Recherche du CHUM
Geographic Region(s) / Province(s)
Quebec
Researcher(s)
Dr. Catherine Larochelle
Research Priorities
Life-modifying therapies
Impact Goal(s)
Understand and Halt Disease Progression

Summary:

  • Western diet and obesity are risk factors for MS. Diet and obesity influence gut bacteria, which in turn can influence the immune system.
  • Dr. Catherine Larochelle and team will examine whether restricting methionine, an essential amino acid present in excessive levels in Western diets, impacts gut bacteria. The researchers will assess how this diet affects the immune system, inflammation, and MS symptoms in a mouse model of MS. They will also conduct a pilot study in humans to understand whether a diet low in methionine shifts the gut bacteria toward an anti-inflammatory profile.
  • This research has the potential to identify a specific dietary intervention that reduces inflammation and improves MS.

Project Description:

Western diet and obesity are risk factors for MS that have been shown to influence the composition of bacteria in the gut and can lead to changes in immune system that contribute to inflammation. In people with MS, we know that there are differences in the composition of gut bacteria, and gut bacteria taken from people with MS will cause a worse disease course in a mouse model of MS.

Western diets provide excess levels of methionine, an essential amino acid. Dr. Catherine Larochelle and team have found that restricting methionine in the diet modifies the gut bacteria composition in mice and leads to improvements in a mouse model of MS. The researchers hypothesize that restricting methionine promotes healthy gut bacteria and that this lowers activation of immune cells, resulting in less inflammation and damage in the brain and spinal cord in MS.

In this project, the researchers aim to understand how methionine restriction impacts the gut bacteria and how changes in the gut bacteria composition influence the development of inflammation and clinical symptoms of MS in mice with MS-like disease. In a pilot clinical study, the researchers will also investigate whether a low methionine diet in humans changes the nature of the gut bacteria towards an anti-inflammatory profile and reduces inflammation.

Potential Impact: The findings of this study will provide further understanding of the interaction between the gut bacteria and inflammation in MS, and may potentially lead to the development of new biomarkers and mediators of inflammation that can be targeted therapeutically.

Project Status: In Progress