Stability of the gut microbiota in persons with paediatric-onset multiple sclerosis and related demyelinating diseases

Geoffrey Liang; Feng Zhu; Ali I Mirza; Amit Bar-Or; Charles N Bernstein; Christine Bonner; Jessica D Forbes; Morag Graham; Janace Hart; Natalie C Knox; Ruth Ann Marrie; Julia O'Mahony; Gary Van Domselaar; E Ann Yeh; Yinshan Zhao; Brenda Banwell; Emmanuelle Waubant; Helen Tremlett; Canadian Paediatric Demyelinating Disease Network

doi:10.1177/13524585221079533

Stability of the gut microbiota in persons with paediatric-onset multiple sclerosis and related demyelinating diseases

Mult Scler. 2022 Oct;28(11):1819-1824. doi: 10.1177/13524585221079533. Epub 2022 Mar 16.

Authors

Geoffrey Liang¹, Feng Zhu¹, Ali I Mirza¹, Amit Bar-Or², Charles N Bernstein³, Christine Bonner⁴, Jessica D Forbes⁵, Morag Graham⁶, Janace Hart⁷, Natalie C Knox⁶, Ruth Ann Marrie⁸, Julia O'Mahony⁹, Gary Van Domselaar⁶, E Ann Yeh⁹, Yinshan Zhao¹, Brenda Banwell¹⁰, Emmanuelle Waubant⁷, Helen Tremlett¹; Canadian Paediatric Demyelinating Disease Network

Affiliations

¹ Division of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada/The Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
² Center for Neuroinflammation and Experimental Therapeutics and Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
³ Department of Internal Medicine, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences and University of Manitoba Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical and Research Centre, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
⁴ National Microbiology Laboratory, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
⁵ Roy Romanow Provincial Laboratory, Regina, SK, Canada/Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
⁶ National Microbiology Laboratory, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, MB, Canada/Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
⁷ Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
⁸ Department of Internal Medicine, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
⁹ The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹⁰ Division of Neurology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Abstract

Objective: Examine if the gut microbiota composition changes across repeated samples in paediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (MS) or monophasic-acquired demyelinating syndromes (monoADS).

Methods: A total of 36 individuals (18 MS/18 monoADS) with ⩾2 stool samples were included. Stool sample-derived DNA was sequenced. Alpha/beta diversities and genus-level taxa were analysed.

Results: Mean ages at first sample procurement (MS/monoADS) = 18.0/13.8 years. Median time (months) between first/second samples = 11.2 and second/third = 10.3. Alpha/beta diversities did not differ between stool samples (p > 0.09), while one genus - Solobacterium did (p = 0.001).

Conclusions: The gut microbiota composition in paediatric-onset MS and monoADS exhibited stability, suggesting that single stool sample procurement is a reasonable first approach.

Keywords: Multiple sclerosis; demyelinating disease; gut microbiota; monophasic acquired demyelinating syndrome; paediatric; stability.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Child
Gastrointestinal Microbiome*
Humans
Multiple Sclerosis*
Syndrome