Thomas Häupl, Till Sörensen, Biljana Smiljanovic, Marine Darcy, Justus Scheder-Bieschin, Nico Steckhan, Anika M Hartmann, Daniela A Koppold, Bruno Stuhlmüller, Karl Skriner, Barbara M Walewska, Berthold Hoppe, Marc Bonin, Gerd R Burmester, Pascal Schendel, Eugen Feist, Karsten Liere, Martin Meixner, Christian Kessler, Andreas Grützkau, Andreas Michalsen
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) synovitis is dominated by monocytes/macrophages with inflammatory patterns resembling microbial stimulation. In search of triggers, we reduced the intestinal microbiome in 20 RA patients (open label study DRKS00014097) by bowel cleansing and 7-day fasting (≤250 kcal/day) and performed immune monitoring and microbiome sequencing. Patients with metabolic syndrome ( n = 10) served as a non-inflammatory control group. Scores of disease activity (DAS28/SDAI) declined within a few days and were improved in 19 of 20 RA patients after breaking the fast (median ∆DAS28 = -1...
June 28, 2023: Journal of Clinical Medicine