Exploring the role of gut microbiota in rheumatoid arthritis: the effects of diet and drug supplementation

Abstract Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease that mostly breaks out at the joints. It further causes bone erosion and decreased life quality due to severe pain. Current drugs are mainly focused on reducing pain, but unable to terminate the disease progression. This study aims t...

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Main Authors: Destina Ekingen Genc, Ozlem Ozbek, Kutlu O. Ulgen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-07-01
Series:BMC Rheumatology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s41927-025-00541-8
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author Destina Ekingen Genc
Ozlem Ozbek
Kutlu O. Ulgen
author_facet Destina Ekingen Genc
Ozlem Ozbek
Kutlu O. Ulgen
author_sort Destina Ekingen Genc
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease that mostly breaks out at the joints. It further causes bone erosion and decreased life quality due to severe pain. Current drugs are mainly focused on reducing pain, but unable to terminate the disease progression. This study aims to determine the effect of diet types (Western, Vegan and Mediterranean) on RA progression. Some dietary supplements and drug administration (Huayu-Qiangshen-Tongbi formula or Leflunomide plus Methotrexate) in a six-month-period were also simulated to elucidate their effects on gut microbiota growth and exchange metabolite fluxes. The computational analyses showed that Haemophilus parainfluenzae had the highest growth rate in the RA community with the Western diet. Enterococcus faecalis was the most notable bacterial species considering butyrate exchange rates without any dependency on the diet; however diet type became important for Clostridium celatum for acetate and formate exchanges. Focal interactions for RA communities signify Mediterranean diet had the most homogeneous exchange flux distribution. With iron and ornithine supplementation, Clostridium celatum outshined the rest of the bacteria in the RA community with the potential being an RA biomarker. The Mediterranean diet could be studied further for drug administration studies since the bacterial species under this diet exhibited different outputs. In the near future, by utilizing the potential of the gut microbiota to be altered with diet, it might be possible to manipulate the progression of RA.
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publishDate 2025-07-01
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spelling doaj-art-53e5cf0dfea34f9d80b7b4a817e63ad22025-08-20T03:45:39ZengBMCBMC Rheumatology2520-10262025-07-019112710.1186/s41927-025-00541-8Exploring the role of gut microbiota in rheumatoid arthritis: the effects of diet and drug supplementationDestina Ekingen Genc0Ozlem Ozbek1Kutlu O. Ulgen2Department of Chemical Engineering, Bogazici UniversityDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Bogazici UniversityDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Bogazici UniversityAbstract Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease that mostly breaks out at the joints. It further causes bone erosion and decreased life quality due to severe pain. Current drugs are mainly focused on reducing pain, but unable to terminate the disease progression. This study aims to determine the effect of diet types (Western, Vegan and Mediterranean) on RA progression. Some dietary supplements and drug administration (Huayu-Qiangshen-Tongbi formula or Leflunomide plus Methotrexate) in a six-month-period were also simulated to elucidate their effects on gut microbiota growth and exchange metabolite fluxes. The computational analyses showed that Haemophilus parainfluenzae had the highest growth rate in the RA community with the Western diet. Enterococcus faecalis was the most notable bacterial species considering butyrate exchange rates without any dependency on the diet; however diet type became important for Clostridium celatum for acetate and formate exchanges. Focal interactions for RA communities signify Mediterranean diet had the most homogeneous exchange flux distribution. With iron and ornithine supplementation, Clostridium celatum outshined the rest of the bacteria in the RA community with the potential being an RA biomarker. The Mediterranean diet could be studied further for drug administration studies since the bacterial species under this diet exhibited different outputs. In the near future, by utilizing the potential of the gut microbiota to be altered with diet, it might be possible to manipulate the progression of RA.https://doi.org/10.1186/s41927-025-00541-8Rheumatoid arthritisGut microbiotaDietMetabolite fluxesAmino acidsSCFA
spellingShingle Destina Ekingen Genc
Ozlem Ozbek
Kutlu O. Ulgen
Exploring the role of gut microbiota in rheumatoid arthritis: the effects of diet and drug supplementation
BMC Rheumatology
Rheumatoid arthritis
Gut microbiota
Diet
Metabolite fluxes
Amino acids
SCFA
title Exploring the role of gut microbiota in rheumatoid arthritis: the effects of diet and drug supplementation
title_full Exploring the role of gut microbiota in rheumatoid arthritis: the effects of diet and drug supplementation
title_fullStr Exploring the role of gut microbiota in rheumatoid arthritis: the effects of diet and drug supplementation
title_full_unstemmed Exploring the role of gut microbiota in rheumatoid arthritis: the effects of diet and drug supplementation
title_short Exploring the role of gut microbiota in rheumatoid arthritis: the effects of diet and drug supplementation
title_sort exploring the role of gut microbiota in rheumatoid arthritis the effects of diet and drug supplementation
topic Rheumatoid arthritis
Gut microbiota
Diet
Metabolite fluxes
Amino acids
SCFA
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s41927-025-00541-8
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AT ozlemozbek exploringtheroleofgutmicrobiotainrheumatoidarthritistheeffectsofdietanddrugsupplementation
AT kutluoulgen exploringtheroleofgutmicrobiotainrheumatoidarthritistheeffectsofdietanddrugsupplementation