Abstract
The gut microbiome appears to be a significant contributor to musculoskeletal health and disease. Recently, it has been found that oral microbiota are involved in arthritis pathogenesis. Microbiome composition and its functional implications have been associated with the prevention of bone loss and/or reducing fracture risk. The link between gut–oral microbiota and joint inflammation in animal models of arthritis has been established, and it is now receiving increasing attention in human studies. Recent papers have demonstrated substantial alterations in the gut and oral microbiota in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA). These alterations resemble those established in systemic inflammatory conditions (inflammatory bowel disease, spondyloarthritides, and psoriasis), which include decreased microbial diversity and a disturbance of immunoregulatory properties. An association between abundance of oral Porphyromonas gingivalis and intestinal Prevotella copri in RA patients compared to healthy controls has been clearly demonstrated. These new findings open important future horizons both for understanding disease pathophysiology and for developing novel biomarkers and treatment strategies. The changes and decreased diversity of oral and gut microbiota seem to play an important role in the etiopathogenesis of RA and OA. However, specific microbial clusters and biomarkers belonging to oral and gut microbiota need to be further investigated to highlight the mechanisms related to alterations in bones and joints inflammatory pathway.
Highlights
Homo sapiens is more prokaryotic than eukaryotic, as the bacteria “layed” in the internal mucosae and externally in the body outnumber host cells 10 to 1 [1]
Intestinal and oral inflammations in people are associated with an imbalance in the microbiota, the dysbiosis, which is characterized by a reduced diversity of microbes, a reduced abundance of obligate anaerobic bacteria, and an expansion of facultative anaerobic bacteria in the phylum Proteobacteria, mostly members of the family Enterobacteriaceae
In regards to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and gut microbiota, single microorganisms such as P. copri might correlate with the development of RA
Summary
Homo sapiens is more prokaryotic than eukaryotic, as the bacteria “layed” in the internal mucosae (intestinal tract, reproductive organs, and respiratory tract) and externally in the body (skin and hair) outnumber host cells 10 to 1 [1]. Steves et al highlighted how the gut microbiome can alter the inflammatory state of an individual by influencing both the host metabolic potential and its innate and adaptive immune system [12] These authors further discussed the role of microbiota diversity on some prevalent age-related disorders, such as osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, gout, rheumatoid arthritis, frailty and sarcopenia. Sakaguchi S. et al reported that the causal genetic anomaly of ZAP-70, a polymorphism of the MHC gene, significantly contributes to determining genetic susceptibility to autoimmune arthritis in SKG mice They demonstrated that the disease initiation requires the interaction of both genetic and environmental factors, in particular the type of microbial colonization.
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