Scientists have discovered that a bowel bug which caused healthy mice to fall ill with symptoms of multiple sclerosis may have the same effects on humans too. These bugs, responsible for inflammation in gut, have a strong impact on the human immune system and so they think that it may be noteworthy for study on multiple sclerosis which is an auto-immune condition. In multiple sclerosis, the fatty insulin named myelin surrounding the nerve fibers is destroyed thereby disrupting the transmission of nerve messages. This leads to varying symptoms like mild tingling or even paralysis in some cases.

Research suggests that genetically engineered mice that are MS-prone do well in cleaner environments. The reasons given behind this is that the development of multiple sclerosis requires bacteria.

The research published in the National Academy of Sciences states that the bacterium actually helps in creating the perfect conditions for the disease instead of directly causing multiple sclerosis. Though, multiple sclerosis is originated partly due genes, it also involves environmental component.

The study was led by Dr Sarkis Mazmanian of the California Institute of Technology who found that the microbes apart from causing inflammation force the body to start producing Th17 T-cells that are related to development of multiple sclerosis. Dr Mazmanian is worrying that if this microbe is capable of inducing Th17 cells in the gut, then it may or may not do the same in the brain or the central nervous system. In his report, Dr Mazmanian also says, “This study shows for the first time that specific intestinal bacteria have a significant role in affecting the nervous system during multiple sclerosis and these do so from the gut, an anatomical location, very, very far from the brain.”

Source:

Sky news