Could our gut bacteria cause joints to wear out?

GUT bacteria may be a cause of arthritis in obese patients, suggests new research from the University of Rochester Medical Center in the U.S.

Scientists found mice fed a high-fat diet for three months became obese and had more harmful bacteria in their guts compared with lean mice; this caused inflammation throughout their bodies and arthritic changes.

When the obese mice were given a prebiotic, which ‘feeds’ the good bacteria, this seemed to reverse the arthritis, according to the journal JCI Insight. The plan is to now investigate this effect in humans.