DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00002-26 ISSN: 2379-5077

Integrated multi-omics analysis identifies microbial and metabolic signatures and drivers of CNS autoimmunity

Theresa L. Montgomery, Emily A. Nelson, Lauren A. Downs, Eamonn R. Heney, Margaret Frances J. Lee, Cameron Martino, Daniel McDonald, Gibraan Rahman, Rob Knight, Dimitry N. Krementsov
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ABSTRACT

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS), driven by genetic and environmental determinants. The gut microbiome of people with MS (pwMS) is distinct and influences disease through immunomodulatory metabolite production. Circulating metabolites are altered in pwMS, but identifying microbial-metabolic drivers remains challenging. We previously showed that colonization by the gut commensal Limosilactobacillus reuteri exacerbates disease in the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model of MS in a tryptophan-dependent manner. Here, we integrated microbiomic and metabolomic data sets from a longitudinal EAE study utilizing high- and low-tryptophan diets in mice colonized with or without L. reuteri . Gut microbiome dynamics, under short- and long-term alterations in tryptophan bioavailability, were affected by diet, microbiome context, or disease. During short-term dietary intervention, L. reuteri colonization exerted a greater impact on microbiome composition than tryptophan bioavailability. With longer dietary exposure and EAE progression, high dietary tryptophan and L. reuteri colonization synergized to elicit profound microbiota changes, including alterations in Lachnospiraceae, Blautia, and Akkermansia . Integration of metabolomic and microbiomic data sets using joint Robust Aitchison PCA revealed clusters of associated metabolites and microbiota enriched for functional pathways, including bile acid and tryptophan metabolism. Metabolites outperformed microbiota in predicting EAE severity, identifying p-cresols and indoles as top disease-associated metabolites. Treatment with p-cresol or 3-indoleglyoxylic acid exacerbated EAE, enhanced proinflammatory T-cell responses, and increased cerebellar pathology. These data demonstrate that dietary responses are shaped by gut microbiome composition and that integrated microbiomic-metabolomic analyses can identify the drivers of disease worsening in MS.

IMPORTANCE

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a multifactorial disease influenced not only by genetics but also by environmental factors, potentially including diet and the composition of the gut microbiome. We show that interactions between diet and commensal gut microbiota profoundly impact the levels of immunomodulatory systemic metabolites, including several that are associated with disease in people with MS (pwMS). Importantly, we demonstrate that individual gut microbiota-produced metabolites are sufficient to worsen disease in a mouse model of MS. Integration of gut microbiome and blood metabolite data sets, combined with subsequent predictive modeling, may bolster biomarker identification and the capacity to predict disease severity in pwMS, as compared to the performance of individual data sets alone. These findings highlight metabolites as key mediators linking diet and the gut microbiota to neuroinflammation. Importantly, this work suggests that targeting microbial metabolites or modifying diet-microbiome interactions may represent new strategies to reduce disease activity in MS and related autoimmune disorders.

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