Background/Purpose: , Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic auto inflammation of the joints, with a prevalence of about 1% in Western population. Treatment with lives helminths or helminths’ secreted molecules in different autoimmune diseases. Recently, the critical involvement of the microbiome in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases has gained appreciation. In RA, there is a shift in microbial coupled with an inflammatory response which includes an alteration in the function of anti-inflammatory regulatory T cells (Treg) and susceptibility towards autoimmunity.

The aim of the current study addresses the correlation between TPC therapeutic efficacy and the microbiome composition in a mouse model of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA).

Methods: , Arthritis was induced in DBA mice by immunization with collagen type II. The mice were treated with TPC or PBS and compared to healthy mice. Stools from the mice were collected every 3 days. DNA was extracted then sequenced using Illumina Miseq platform. Data analysis was performed using QIIME.

Results: Significantly lower arthritis score was illustrated in TPC treated mice in comparison to mice which received vehicle. We showed that the microbial composition changes with treatment and correlated to disease severity.  At the order level, Enterobacteriales were significantly more abundant in the healthy mice while Clostridiales and Deferribacterales were more abundant in the PBS-CIA mice. CIA mice treated with TPC maintained a “healthy” microbiota, which was similar to mice in which RA was not induced.

Conclusion: Our results provide support for a microbial link in CIA and show the importance of the microbiome in the success of the treatment.