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Differences in gut bacteria have been described in several autoimmune disorders. In this exploratory pilot study, we compared gut bacteria in patients with multiple sclerosis and healthy controls and evaluated the influence of glatiramer acetate and vitamin D treatment on the microbiota.

Subjects were otherwise healthy white women with or without relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis who were vitamin D insufficient. Patients with multiple sclerosis were untreated or were receiving glatiramer acetate. Subjects collected stool at baseline and after 90 days of vitamin D₃ (5000 IU/d) supplementation. The abundance of operational taxonomic units was evaluated by hybridization of 16S rRNA to a DNA microarray.

While there was overlap of gut bacterial communities, the abundance of some operational taxonomic units, including Faecalibacterium, was lower in patients with multiple sclerosis …