Patients with rheumatoid arthritis, arthritis or lupus experience chronic pain, inflammation and fatigue. Classic diagnostics often show immune activation and elevated inflammatory markers, but do not explain why some patients have more severe symptoms or flares.

The gut-joint axis shows how gut microbiota, immune cells and metabolites contribute to joint inflammation via crosstalk. Multi-omics makes this visible and offers physicians new biomarkers for diagnosis and follow-up.

The clinical problem

• Rheumatoid arthritis (RA): autoimmunity is enhanced by intestinal barrier leakage and bacterial metabolites.(Qi et al., Front Immunol 2024).
• Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE): dysbiosis leads to loss of immune tolerance and increased IgA activity.(Silverman et al., Nat Rev Rheumatol 2024).
• Spondylarthritis and osteoarthritis: studies show altered microbiome profiles affecting inflammation and bone remodeling.(Longo et al., IJERPH 2024).
• Jin et al, Front Immunol 2024: "leaky gut" and circulating immune complexes link intestinal problems to joint pain.

Multi-omics insights into the gut-joint axis

1. Dysbiosis and immune-crosstalk
   - Hao, Mod Rheumatol 2025: microbial metabolites (SCFAs, tryptophan pathways) affect Treg/Th17 balance, crucial in RA.
2. Lupus and metabolic axes
   - Habiballah et al, Front Immunol 2025: restoration of metabolic pathways and DC-B cell crosstalk via microbial modulation can dampen lupus activity.
3. Leaky gut and inflammation
   - Qi et al., 2024: increased intestinal permeability → bacterial antigens circulate → immune complexes in joints.
4. Auto-immune network
   - Wang et al., Front Immunol 2024: Gut microbiome is a central player in RA, SLE and other autoimmune diseases through metabolic and immunological crosstalk.

Innovative solutions for the clinic

1. Inflammation Predictive Profile
   - My InnerSelfie measures gut permeability, immune profiles and microbial metabolites to predict flare risk.
2. Leaky Gut Scan
   - Objective markers of barrier integrity and circulating immune complexes.
3. Immune Metabolic Map
   - Multi-omics reveals whether a patient is driving inflammation via Treg suppression or Th17 overactivation.
4. Therapy response predict
   - Multi-omics may explain why patients respond differently to immunosuppressants or biologicals.

Why My InnerSelfie is unique

• Multi-omics integration: DNA, microbiome and metabolites in a single clinical profile.
• Crosstalk focus: we map gut-joint interaction and immune balance.
• Preventive precision: risk of flares or disease progression is revealed early.
• Additional tool for the physician: decisions remain in the hands of the rheumatologist; we enrich with additional data.
• Tomorrow's care: innovative, preventive and always customized. Innovation of today becomes the standard of tomorrow - safe and scientifically based.

Key insights

• Joint inflammation is partly driven by intestinal dysbiosis and immune crosstalk.
• RA, SLE and spondylarthritis exhibit unique gut profiles that multi-omics can distinguish.
• My InnerSelfie helps rheumatologists diagnose, monitor and personalize therapy.

Scientific references

• Longo UG, Lalli A, Bandini B, et al. Gut-joint axis in osteoarthritis, RA and spondylarthritis. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024.
• Silverman GJ, Azzouz DF, Gisch N, et al. Gut microbiome in SLE: lessons from rheumatic fever. Nat Rev Rheumatol. 2024.
• Hao Y. Gut microbiota-immune crosstalk in RA. Mod Rheumatol. 2025.
• Qi P, Chen X, Tian J, et al. Gut homeostasis-immune axis in RA pathogenesis. Front Immunol. 2024.
• Jin X, Li D, Quan W, et al. Leaky gut and arthritis in IBD and lupus. Front Immunol. 2024.
• Habiballah DN, Li F, Jiang L. Immune metabolic restoration in SLE: role of microbiota. Front Immunol. 2025.
• Wang X, Yuan W, Yang C, et al. Gut microbiota in autoimmune diseases. Front Immunol. 2024.