Could lupus be controlled with probiotic yoghurt? New research suggests it can…

People with lupus could try adding foods that influence gut bacteria to their diets to better control their disease, claims a study in Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
Work on mice found that gut bacteria such as the lactobacillus species – often present in yoghurt cultures – can ease lupus symptoms. And high levels of a bacterial species called lachnospiraceae tends to make the condition worse.
The mice with lupus used in the study had lower levels of lactobacillus and higher levels of lachnospiraceae. But this difference was only seen in the female mice, which correlates with the fact that more women are affected by lupus than men.
So altering gut microbiota might reduce lupus symptoms. The team is still looking at the evidence but goes as far as suggesting that people with lupus could eat more food such as probiotic yogurts as a potential means of reducing lupus flares.
“Our results suggest that the same investigation should be performed in human subjects with lupus,” explains lead author Xin Luo. “The use of probiotics, prebiotics, and antibiotics has the potential to alter microbiota dysbiosis, which in turn could improve lupus symptoms.”
A spokesperson from Arthritis Research UK comments:
“This interesting work has shown that dietary changes in mice can be successful at improving disease symptoms and further research is now required to investigate whether altering the bacteria in our guts has potential as a new approach to treating disease symptoms in humans.”

Click here to read the original research.

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Image credit: peddhapati