Hidden link in gut–joint axis: gut microbes promote rheumatoid arthritis at early stage by enhancing ascorbate degradation

Microbial dysbiosis and metabolic disorders promote rheumatoid arthritis across successive stages: a multi-omics cohort study

“…We also identified certain arthritis-elevated microbial functions that were related to pro-inflammation. As we have previously reported, E. coli could promote arthritis progression by enhancing ascorbate degradation 11 . Ascorbate could prevent the development of inflammatory arthritis by facilitating collagen synthesis, moderating autoimmune responses, and ameliorating inflammation 30, 31 .…”

“…Gut microbial dysbiosis has been implicated in the pathogenesis of RA, designated as gut-joint axis, via a range of mechanisms such as metabolic perturbation and immune response regulation [4][5][6][7][8][9] . For instance, increased abundance of Prevotella and Collinsella in RA patients are correlated with the production of T H 17 cell cytokines 10,11 .…”

“…RA is recognized clinically as a chronic, inflammatory, autoimmune disease that primarily affects the joints and typically has four stages 2-5 : 1) In the first stage, the synovium of the joints is inflamed and most people have minor symptoms such as stiffness upon awakening; 2) In the second stage, the inflamed synovium has caused damage to the joint cartilage and people begin to feel swelling, and have a restricted range of motion;3) In the third stage, RA has proceeded to a severe state when bone erosion begins and the cartilage on the surface of the bones has deteriorated, resulting in the bones rubbing against one another; and 4) In the fourth stage, certain joints are severely deformed and lose function and people suffer considerably from swelling, stiffness, mobility loss, and disability. To inhibit RA progression, specific therapeutic strategies are necessary for people across different RA stages.Gut microbial dysbiosis has been implicated in the pathogenesis of RA via a range of mechanisms such as metabolic perturbation and immune response regulation, which is known as the gut-joint axis [6][7][8][9][10][11] . For instance, increased abundance of Prevotella and Collinsella in RA patients are correlated with the production of TH17 cell cytokines 12,13 .…”

Stage-specific roles of microbial dysbiosis and metabolic disorders in rheumatoid arthritis

“…Data collection for this multiomics study was conducted in The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University (Jinan, Shandong, China), which was a provincial-level large-scale comprehensive tertiary first-class hospital and had tens of thousands of outpatients with arthritis per year. A total of 122 faecal and 122 plasma samples were collected from 122 outpatients of the The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University from 2017 to 2020 7. These outpatients included 76 patients with RA, 19 patients with OA and 27 healthy individuals (table 1).…”

“…Gut microbial dysbiosis has been implicated in the pathogenesis of RA via a range of mechanisms such as metabolic perturbation and immune response regulation, which is known as the gut–joint axis,6 7 for instance, increased abundance of Prevotella and Collinsella in patients with RA are correlated with the production of T H 17 cell cytokines 8 9. Moreover, Gut microbes and their products were likely to be transited to the joint due to the increased gut permeability 6.…”