The Microbiome May Not Contribute to the Increased Prevalence of Asthma in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, neurodegenerative autoimmune condition with genetic, environmental, and microbiome factors playing critical roles in its etiology. Similarly, asthma is a chronic autoimmune disease, primarily affecting the lungs, and is also linked to disruptions in the microbiome. Notably, patients with MS have been found to have asthma more often than people without MS, suggesting a potential link between these conditions. The gut microbiome, through the regulation of immune responses, has been involved in the development of several autoimmune diseases, including MS and asthma. However, despite recent research, the relationship between the gut microbiome and the co-occurrence of MS and asthma remains unclear. In this study, we analyzed the gut microbiome data from a publicly available dataset using 16S rRNA sequencing data, and compared microbiome composition and functional pathways across four experimental groups: patients with MS and asthma, patients with MS only, patients with asthma only, and healthy controls. Our findings revealed no significant differences in microbiome composition or functional pathways between the experimental groups. Despite previous studies suggesting the role of microbiome-mediated dysbiosis in MS and asthma individually, our results suggest that the gut microbiome may not play a role in the increased co-occurrence of asthma in individuals with MS.