2218 : Investigating the correlation between rheumatoid arthritis and Prevotella copri

Early human evidence such as case series or small samples is exploring possible benefits.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most prevalent systemic autoimmune diseases. It is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. In humans, the intestinal microbe Prevotella copri strongly correlates with RA in previously untreated new-onset rheumatoid arthritis (NORA) patients. Metagenomic assembly of P. copri from NORA patients and healthy controls suggests genetic differences between P. copri from each group. In order to test the hypothesis that genetic differences in P. copri from arthritis patients promote arthritis, I am performing genomic comparison of primary P. copri isolates from NORA patients and healthy controls, and analysis of the immune response to P. copri in mice. Mice colonized with P. copri have increased susceptibility to DSS-induced weight loss and death compared with uncolonized controls. Future experiments will assess the local and systemic immune response in P. copri-colonized, DSS-treated mice. If this work is successful, then it may be possible to exploit genetic variation in P. copri. This could lead to new biomarkers for human disease or even insight into drug metabolism. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: To validate a strategy to screen for the presence of P. copri in feces, qPCR primers were designed to amplify 8 regions across the 3.5 Mb P. copri reference genome using NCBI PrimerBlast. Primers were valida

Evidence level

Early human evidence such as case series or small samples is exploring possible benefits.

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