A prospective longitudinal study of the gut microbiome of a birth cohort of infants genetically at risk of developing celiac disease, including 10 infants who developed the disease and 10 matched controls, found increases in microbial strains, functional pathways, and metabolites previously linked to autoimmune and inflammatory conditions, as well as decreases in strains, pathways, and metabolites with known protective and anti-inflammatory effects leading up to disease onset; the results suggest that preclinical changes in the gut microbiome and metabolome could serve as markers of celiac disease progression and inform the development of preventive treatments, according to the authors.
Article #20-20322: "Microbiome signatures of progression toward celiac disease onset in at-risk children in a longitudinal prospective cohort study," by Maureen M. Leonard et al.
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Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences