Presenter: Phoebe (Xu) Shi
- From Dr. Amanda Ramer-Tait’s Lab at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Title: The Gut Microbiota Modulates the Severity of Experimental Autoimmune Myocarditis (EAM)

Summary:
Myocarditis is an inflammatory disease of the heart muscle caused by infectious triggers that induce autoimmune responses toward heart-specific antigens. Although the gut microbiota has been linked to cardiovascular diseases, its role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory myocarditis has not yet been determined. We therefore investigated whether the microbiota modulates disease severity in a mouse model of Experimental Autoimmune Myocarditis (EAM) by colonizing germ-free mice with one of three distinct microbiomes (M31B, W116 and MC608) prior to inducing EAM to detect disease severity and gut microbiota changes. Our results demonstrate that the gut microbiota not only influences EAM severity but also regulates autoreactive immune responses. We also found that the development of EAM alters gut microbiota diversity and composition. Together, these results highlight a modulative role for the gut microbiota in the pathogenesis of EAM and provide a foundations for developing novel, microbiome-based strategies to treat myocarditis patients.