The alterations in the gut microbiota and Bifidobacterium animalis BD400 during the development and progression of collagen-induced arthritis in rats.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic, chronic autoimmune disease. Based on the previous research results we conducted on the prevention of RA with Bifidobacterium animalis BD400, we generated a large longitudinal 16S rRNA sequencing dataset to characterize temporal microbial shifts associated with disease progression and probiotic intervention. This study constructed collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) model rats to assess the changes in the gut microbiota species of the rats during the model development. The experimental results showed that as the CIA model developed, the gut microbiota of the rats underwent dynamic changes involving genera such as Akkermansia, Romboutsia, Christensenellaceae_R-7_group, Bifidobacterium, Turicibacter, Candidatus_Saccharimonas, etc. Bifidobacterium animalis BD400 administration altered the relative abundances of genera such as Turicibacter, Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, Lacticaseibacillus, and Ligilactobacillus, thereby helping to alleviate RA. This study provides data reference for achieving RA prevention through gut microbiota intervention and lays the foundation for the application of probiotics in RA prevention.