Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40185103›Full record

ArticleCell reports. Medicine2025

Gut microbiota and metabolites are linked to disease progression in multiple sclerosis.

Luke A Schwerdtfeger, Federico Montini, Toby B Lanser, Millicent N Ekwudo, Jonathan Zurawski, Shahamat Tauhid, Bonnie I Glanz, Renxin Chu, Rohit Bakshi, Tanuja Chitnis and 2 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Cell reports. Medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
30citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

30 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. The Gut Microbiome in Multiple Sclerosis.Neurology(R) neuroimmunology & neuroinflammation · 2026
    Review
  4. Review
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Tobacco smoking disrupts bile acid and tryptophan metabolism in multiple sclerosis.Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England) · 2026
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. The Safety ofViruses · 2026
    Article
  16. Review
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Luke A SchwerdtfegerAnn Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Federico MontiniAnn Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Toby B LanserAnn Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Millicent N EkwudoAnn Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Jonathan ZurawskiAnn Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Shahamat TauhidAnn Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Bonnie I GlanzAnn Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Renxin ChuAnn Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Rohit BakshiAnn Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Tanuja ChitnisAnn Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Laura M CoxAnn Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: lcox@bwh.harvard.edu.
Howard L WeinerAnn Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: hweiner@bwh.harvard.edu.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disease with limited understanding of the biology associated with transition from relapsing to progressive disease. Intestinal microbes and metabolites are altered in MS, but relation to disease progression is largely unknown. We investigate microbiota and metabolites in subjects with stable MS, those who worsened, and in those with relapsing MS who became progressive over 2 years. We find that Eubacterium hallii, Butyricoccaceae, Blautia, and other short-chain fatty-acid-producing microbes have beneficial associations with worsening of disability, 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures, cognition, and quality of life, while Alistipes is detrimentally associated. Global metabolomics identified serum and stool metabolites that are altered in progressive MS and in relapsing subjects who transitioned to progressive disease. Most fecal metabolites associated with disease progression are decreased, suggesting a deficiency of protective factors in the gut. Using a unique MS cohort, our findings identify gut microbiome and metabolite pathways influencing progressive MS.

Indexed as

Gastrointestinal MicrobiomeMultiple SclerosisAdultDisease ProgressionFecesFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMetabolomeMetabolomicsMiddle AgedMultiple Sclerosis, Chronic Progressivedisease progressionfatty acidsgut microbiomemetabolomicsmicrobial metabolitesMRIprogressive MS

Identifiers

PMID40185103
PMCPMC12047500

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.