It MAY be... in mice. Science!
Quite a few years ago they were sure bee stings would ameliorate MS symptoms.
That was medical navel gazing too.
…starting with samples from patients with multiple sclerosis, conducting lab experiments on these samples, then confirming our findings in patients.
First, we analyzed the chemical and bacterial gut composition of patients with multiple sclerosis, confirming that they had gut inflammation and different types of gut bacteria compared with people without multiple sclerosis.
Specifically, we showed that a group of bacteria called Blautia was more common in multiple sclerosis patients, while Prevotella, a bacterial species consistently linked to a healthy gut, was found in lower amounts.
We then examined whether this same imbalance appeared in people. We measured the ratio of Bifidobacterium adolescentis and Akkermansia muciniphila in samples from multiple sclerosis patients in Iowa and participants in a study spanning the U.S., Latin America and Europe.
Our findings were consistent: Patients with multiple sclerosis had a lower ratio of Bifidobacterium to Akkermansia. This imbalance was not only linked to having multiple sclerosis but also with worse disability, making it a stronger predictor of disease severity than any single type of bacteria alone.
Previously, we have shown that people with multiple sclerosis lack gut bacteria that can metabolize phytoestrogen.