Researchers have found that eating high-fiber diet may significantly reduce the inflammation associated with gout. This new research published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology has reported that the action of gut bacteria is influenced by different types of food, and thus, can affect inflammation in the body.

Gout is a complex form of arthritis caused by the buildup of uric acid crystals in the joints thereby causing inflammation and the pain. Uric acid crystals can also accumulate in kidneys creating stones. Fortunately, researchers have revealed a new way to diminish the inflammation by treating the root cause.

Diets rich in high fiber can trigger gut bacteria that produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which ultimately induces neutrophil apoptosis or cellular death, thereby encountering the inflammation. Neutrophils are the most abundant cells involved in immune responses.

As per Mauro M. Teixeira, Ph.D, a researcher involved in the work from the Immunopharmacology Group in the Department of Biochemistry and Immunology at the Institute of Biological Sciences at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Minas Gerais, Brazil, "By understanding the ways by which food interacts with living organisms, we may be able to create diets that would help people with the disease, as well as their overall health."

For the study, researchers used a high-fiber diet and treatment with SCFAs to prevent inflammation associated with the injection of monosodium urate (MSU) crystals in the knees of mice. The results showed that the combination of the high-fiber diet and MSU crystals injection caused neutrophil apoptosis and efferocytosis, thus resolving inflammation. Moreover, the fiber-rich diet can prevent the knee damage by reducing inflammation and retained normal functions of the joints.

"We see an explosion in our mechanistic understanding of how microbial communities in our intestines and elsewhere influence multiple aspects of immune and metabolic health," said John Wherry, Ph.D., Deputy Editor of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology. "This work is an elegant example of how the tuning of inflammatory circuits by linking diet to microbial products can have a profound effect on an inflammatory disease in the joints. Future work may allow such findings to be translated into practical treatments for gout and other diseases."

Thus, the study findings demonstrated that the microbes in the gut could influence the immune and metabolic systems. This finding has important implications for the treatment of gout and possibly for the treatment of arthritis.