26 Oct 2015 --- Dietary fatty acids affect the development and progression of autoimmune chronic-inflammatory diseases such as multiple sclerosis. In a collaborative study between the Departments of Neurology at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (St. Josef-Hospital) and the Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen, researchers found that long-chain fatty acids promote the development and propagation of CNS reactive immune cells in the intestinal wall. On the contrary, short-chain fatty acids promote the development and propagation of regulatory cells in the immune system. Prof Dr med. Aiden Haghikia and Prof Dr med. Ralf Linker published their results in the current edition of the renowned journal "Immunity".