Search
Browse
Statistics
Feeds

Functional microbiome shifts are associated with neuroinflammatory outcomes under dietary interventions in multiple sclerosis

[thumbnail of Original Article]
Preview
PDF (Original Article) - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
3MB
[thumbnail of Supplementary Information] MS Word (Supplementary Information)
1MB

Item Type:Article
Title:Functional microbiome shifts are associated with neuroinflammatory outcomes under dietary interventions in multiple sclerosis
Creators: Gutmann, Friederike ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6763-2270, Bahr, Lina Samira ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7932-8639, Brüning, Ulrike ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0112-4032, Jarquín-Díaz, Víctor Hugo ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3758-1091, Markó, Lajos ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1888-5575, Weygandt, Martin ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9962-4582, Rust, Rebekka ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-9600-7342, Bellmann-Strobl, Judith ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2615-1643, Paul, Friedemann ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6378-0070, Forslund-Startceva, Sofia Kirke ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4285-6993 and Kirwan, Jennifer A. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5423-1651
Abstract:Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic immune-mediated disease of the central nervous system. While disease-modifying therapies can reduce relapse rates, their limitations have spurred interest in adjunctive approaches such as fasting and ketogenic diets (FD, KD). In a randomized controlled trial, participants with relapsing–remitting MS followed FD, KD, or a control diet for 9 months, with multi-omic and clinical assessments. Our secondary analysis revealed that KD was associated with distinct gut microbial functional profiles, including enrichment of carbohydrate metabolism modules that co-occurred with lower T2 lesion volume. Stool propionate levels, however, did not correspond to the abundance of the annotated propionate production II module. Key contributors included Romboutsia timonensis , Roseburia intestinalis , and Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron . These microbial changes coincided with diet-associated changes in circulating tryptophan and indole metabolites, suggesting a system-level co-occurrence of changes along the gut-brain axis. We present evidence that KD is associated with coordinated tryptophan-related metabolite changes and species-specific functional differences alongside T2 lesion metrics. These exploratory associations warrant validation and mechanistic investigation. Registry ClinicalTrials.gov, TRN: NCT03508414, Registration date: 25 April 2018.
Keywords:Multiple Sclerosis, Ketogenic Diet, Fasting Diet, Microbiome, Metabolomics, Gut-Brain Axis
Source:Scientific Reports
ISSN:2045-2322
Publisher:Springer Nature
Volume:16
Number:1
Page Range:30701
Date:3 October 2026
Official Publication:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-73464-0
Related to:

Repository Staff Only: item control page

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

Open Access
MDC Library