How does the gut microbiome impact rheumatoid arthritis?

Abstract

This dissertation investigates how the gut microbiota impacts Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), a project that spans three core disciplines: rheumatology, microbiology, and immunobiology. It first outlines the key changes in the gut microbiome observed in rheumatoid arthritis. It also examines possible mechanisms linking the gut to joint inflammation, such as impaired intestinal barrier function and ongoing inflammatory processes. In addition, the potential use of the gut microbiome as a diagnostic biomarker is considered. The findings demonstrate the effects of gut microbiome dysbiosis on the progression of rheumatoid arthritis, providing a connection to clinical diagnostics and therapeutics. The literature review elaborates on the autoimmune nature of RA, details its inducing factors—genetics and the environment—and explains how serum biomarkers and the mucosal hypothesis link inflammatory responses to microbial dysbiosis, in turn triggering abnormal autoimmune activity and ultimately leading to the onset of the disease. The discussion section conducts a two-sided analysis of existing medical technologies for RA diagnosis and treatment, evaluating their promising prospects. For instance, the detection of several bacterial taxa with significant abundance changes enables the identification of the disease in patients at the early stage or even before its onset, and targeted probiotic supplementation and drug administration can be adopted to ameliorate microbial dysbiosis. At the same time, the limitations of existing studies, such as one-sided research outcomes caused by the failure to account for all confounding variables, are also pointed out. The dissertation concludes that current medical advances have achieved effective improvements in mitigating RA's adverse impact on human health. However, the presence of numerous uncertain variables means that scientists have not yet developed a fully validated and comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic protocol that can be fully trusted. The compilation of this dissertation is based on the analysis of literature on RA itself and related clinical test reports, together with personal perspectives formed throughout the research process.