Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42383698›Full record

ArticleMultiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England)2026

Tobacco smoking disrupts bile acid and tryptophan metabolism in multiple sclerosis.

Farren Bs Briggs, Jevin Litwiler, Federico Montini, Mahboubeh Fereidan Esfahani, Jessica Sagen, Jacob L McCauley, Flavia Nelson, Simon Gregory, Roberta Brambilla, Erika S Trapl and 5 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Farren Bs BriggsDepartment of Public Health Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA; Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, US.ORCID 0000-0003-0903-1359
Jevin LitwilerSchool of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
Federico MontiniCenter for Multiple Sclerosis and Autoimmune Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA; Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Mahboubeh Fereidan EsfahaniDepartment of Neurology, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
Jessica SagenCenter for Multiple Sclerosis and Autoimmune Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
Jacob L McCauleyJohn P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-1805-1733
Flavia NelsonDepartment of Neurology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
Simon GregoryDepartment of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Duke Molecular Physiology Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
Roberta BrambillaDepartment of Neurological Surgery, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
Erika S TraplDepartment of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
Jessica N Cooke BaileyDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA.
Luke A SchwerdtfegerDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Laura CoxAnn Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Howard WeinerAnn Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
W Oliver TobinCenter for Multiple Sclerosis and Autoimmune Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8141-2394

Funding

Gut Microbiota in Patients with Multiple SclerosisR01NS087226 · NINDS · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · PI WEINER, HOWARD L · 2014 to 2018
$1.9M
Characterizing the serum metabolome in multiple sclerosisR01NS121928 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · PI BRIGGS, FARREN B. S. · 2021 to 2023
$1.4M
Exploring Akkermansia Genomic and Functional Diversity in Neurologic DiseasesR21NS126866 · NINDS · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · PI COX, LAURA MICHELLE · 2022 to 2022
$472k
NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS087226NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS121928NINDS NIH HHS R21 NS126866
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSmokers with multiple sclerosis (MS) experience worse disease, yet underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Smoking disrupts bile acid and tryptophan metabolism in non-MS populations; both pathways involve host-microbiome co-metabolism and have been linked to MS.

objectiveDetermine whether smoking perturbs these metabolic pathways in MS and whether such alterations statistically mediate smoking's effect on MS severity.

methodsWe analyzed serum bile acid, tryptophan, and tobacco-related metabolites across four independent MS cohorts (

resultsCurrent smokers and nicotine-exposed MS subjects had reductions in bile acids and tryptophan metabolites, notably indolepropionate, a neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory gut-microbial metabolite. Lower indolepropionate statistically mediated ~20% of smoking's adverse effect on MS severity. Metagenomic analyses identified potential smoking-enriched MS-linked taxa, and that indolepropionate broadly co-occurs with microbial networks (e.g.

conclusionTobacco exposure disrupts host-microbiome tryptophan and bile acid metabolism in persons with multiple sclerosis, with indolepropionate depletion partially mediating disease severity, highlighting a potential mechanistic pathway warranting further investigation in MS smokers.

Indexed as

Bile Acids and SaltsGastrointestinal MicrobiomeMultiple SclerosisTobacco SmokingTryptophanAdultFemaleHumansIndolesMaleMiddle AgedBile Acids and Saltsindolepropionic acidIndolesTryptophanmetabolomicsmetagenomicsMultiple sclerosisnicotinesmoking

Identifiers

PMID42383698
PMCPMC13335763

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.