News Releases & Research Results Whole-genome sequencing of the gut microbiome delineated the characteristics of intestinal bacteria in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Results of research by a group comprising Graduate Student Toshihiro Kishikawa (doctoral program) and Professor Yukinori Okada, Department of Statistical Genetics Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University and others.

• A comprehensive metagenome-wide association study was performed to analyze data on bacterial species, genes, pathways (*), etc., based on genomic information (metagenome) from the gut microbiome in 82 Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 42 healthy controls.
  * Routes showing various networks in living organisms, including gene or protein interactions and cascade of chemical reactions in cells.
• These results revealed that specific changes, such as an increase in the abundance of multiple species of genus Prevotella and a reduction in the abundance of a redox reaction-related genes, were observed in the metagenome of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
• The present results are expected to help identify the mechanisms underlying the effect of the gut microbiome on the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis.

This project was conducted with the support of Advanced Research & Development Programs for Medical Innovation (PRIME) by AMED.

The results of research were published in the online version of Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, a British scientific journal, on November 8.

Kishikawa T., et al. Metagenome-wide association study of gut microbiome revealed novel etiology of rheumatoid arthritis in the Japanese population Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
DOI：10.1136/annrheumdis-2019-215743