Beyond the microbiome: unraveling gut dysbiosis and its impact on systemic lupus erythematosus
Background Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease influenced by genetic and environmental factors, with gut microbiota (GM) changes emerging as a key environmental contributor.Methods A total of 42SLE patients and 30 age – and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled. Stool sa...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Alexandria Journal of Medicine |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20905068.2025.2460908 |
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| author | Yara Safwat Roshdy Shwikar Mahmoud Ahmed Mona Gamaleldeen Morsi Ahmed Shaaban Samar Farouk Fouad Mostafa |
| author_facet | Yara Safwat Roshdy Shwikar Mahmoud Ahmed Mona Gamaleldeen Morsi Ahmed Shaaban Samar Farouk Fouad Mostafa |
| author_sort | Yara Safwat Roshdy |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease influenced by genetic and environmental factors, with gut microbiota (GM) changes emerging as a key environmental contributor.Methods A total of 42SLE patients and 30 age – and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled. Stool samples from all participants were analyzed using quantitative SYBR Green Real-Time PCR to detect and quantify selected bacterial taxa at phylogenetic and species levels.Results Our results highlight the signature mark of SLE gut dysbiosis, namely decreased species richness and diversity with a reduction in the Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio. Specific reductions were observed in Prevotella, Ruminococcus, Lactobacillus (including Lactobacillus reuteri), Bifidobacterium, Akkermansia muciniphila, and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii. Conversely, proinflammatory Bacteroidetes and Bacteroides were significantly increased. Notably, SLE patients receiving Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) displayed a significantly higher F/B ratio than non-MMF users.Conclusions This study reinforces the link between gut dysbiosis and SLE, highlights conflicting evidence regarding the role of Lactobacillus in SLE, and highlights a possible new mechanism through which MMF impacts SLE. We recommend future research focus on species-level analysis to clarify contradictory results. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-279676e383394367a45a6d591e4e0c8a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2090-5068 2090-5076 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Alexandria Journal of Medicine |
| spelling | doaj-art-279676e383394367a45a6d591e4e0c8a2025-02-07T07:44:36ZengTaylor & Francis GroupAlexandria Journal of Medicine2090-50682090-50762025-12-0161111010.1080/20905068.2025.2460908Beyond the microbiome: unraveling gut dysbiosis and its impact on systemic lupus erythematosusYara Safwat Roshdy0Shwikar Mahmoud Ahmed1Mona Gamaleldeen Morsi2Ahmed Shaaban3Samar Farouk Fouad Mostafa4Medical Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Medicine-Alexandria University, Alexandria, EgyptMedical Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Medicine-Alexandria University, Alexandria, EgyptMedical Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Medicine-Alexandria University, Alexandria, EgyptInternal Medicine Department, Rheumatology & Immunology Division, Faculty of Medicine-Alexandria University, Alexandria, EgyptMedical Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Medicine-Alexandria University, Alexandria, EgyptBackground Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease influenced by genetic and environmental factors, with gut microbiota (GM) changes emerging as a key environmental contributor.Methods A total of 42SLE patients and 30 age – and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled. Stool samples from all participants were analyzed using quantitative SYBR Green Real-Time PCR to detect and quantify selected bacterial taxa at phylogenetic and species levels.Results Our results highlight the signature mark of SLE gut dysbiosis, namely decreased species richness and diversity with a reduction in the Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio. Specific reductions were observed in Prevotella, Ruminococcus, Lactobacillus (including Lactobacillus reuteri), Bifidobacterium, Akkermansia muciniphila, and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii. Conversely, proinflammatory Bacteroidetes and Bacteroides were significantly increased. Notably, SLE patients receiving Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) displayed a significantly higher F/B ratio than non-MMF users.Conclusions This study reinforces the link between gut dysbiosis and SLE, highlights conflicting evidence regarding the role of Lactobacillus in SLE, and highlights a possible new mechanism through which MMF impacts SLE. We recommend future research focus on species-level analysis to clarify contradictory results.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20905068.2025.2460908Systemic lupus erythematosusgut microbiotaSLEDAI-2Kreal-time PCRdysbiosis |
| spellingShingle | Yara Safwat Roshdy Shwikar Mahmoud Ahmed Mona Gamaleldeen Morsi Ahmed Shaaban Samar Farouk Fouad Mostafa Beyond the microbiome: unraveling gut dysbiosis and its impact on systemic lupus erythematosus Alexandria Journal of Medicine Systemic lupus erythematosus gut microbiota SLEDAI-2K real-time PCR dysbiosis |
| title | Beyond the microbiome: unraveling gut dysbiosis and its impact on systemic lupus erythematosus |
| title_full | Beyond the microbiome: unraveling gut dysbiosis and its impact on systemic lupus erythematosus |
| title_fullStr | Beyond the microbiome: unraveling gut dysbiosis and its impact on systemic lupus erythematosus |
| title_full_unstemmed | Beyond the microbiome: unraveling gut dysbiosis and its impact on systemic lupus erythematosus |
| title_short | Beyond the microbiome: unraveling gut dysbiosis and its impact on systemic lupus erythematosus |
| title_sort | beyond the microbiome unraveling gut dysbiosis and its impact on systemic lupus erythematosus |
| topic | Systemic lupus erythematosus gut microbiota SLEDAI-2K real-time PCR dysbiosis |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20905068.2025.2460908 |
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