03 Oct 2017 --- New findings explain how a type of healthy bacteria in yogurt and other dairy products might reduce disease symptoms in certain patients with lupus. Xin Luo, assistant professor of immunology in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, and her colleagues at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech expanded upon earlier research linking a lack of Lactobacillus, which produces lactic acid and is an important part of gut microbiota in both humans and mice, and autoimmune diseases such as lupus. The new research describes the mechanism behind this association.