Compositions comprising bacterial strains

1. A method of reducing inflammation associated with Th17 differentiation in a subject with a condition mediated by the Th17 pathway, comprising administering orally to the subject a pharmaceutical composition that comprises an amount of a bacteria strain of the species Enterococcus faecium;

wherein said bacteria strain is live and lyophilized; and wherein said bacteria strain has an enzyme profile as determined by a Rapid ID 32A analysis that is:

(i) positive for at least one of: arginine dihydrolase, β-glucosidase, mannose fermentation, glutamic acid decarboxylase, arginine arylamidase, phenylalanine arylamidase, leucine arylamidase, pyroglutamic acid arylamidase, tyrosine arylamidase, glycine arylamidase, histidine arylamidase and serine arylamidase; and

(ii) intermediate for N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase;

wherein said pharmaceutical composition does not comprise Bacillus subtilis or Bacillus coagulans;

and wherein said administering reduces inflammation associated with Th17 differentiation.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said administering decreases an amount of IL-17A, IL-17B, IL-17C, IL-17D, IL-17E, or IL-17F; relative to an amount prior to said administering.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the condition comprises uveitis; multiple sclerosis; arthritis; neuromyelitis optica; psoriasis; systemic lupus erythematosus; inflammatory bowel disease; celiac disease; asthma; allergic asthma; neutrophilic asthma; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); scleritis; vasculitis; Behcet's disease; atherosclerosis; atopic dermatitis; emphysema; periodontitis; allergic rhinitis; or allograft rejection.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the condition is arthritis, and wherein the arthritis is rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, psoriatic arthritis, spondyloarthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, or juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the condition is inflammatory bowel disease, and wherein the inflammatory bowel disease is Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the bacteria strain comprises a polynucleotide sequence that is the 16s rRNA gene sequence of SEQ ID NO:2.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subject has the condition, or has been identified as being at risk of the condition.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subject has previously received an anti-TNF-α therapy.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising administering an additional therapeutic agent to the subject.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein said administering comprises providing one or more doses of 1 g, 3 g, 5 g or 10 g of said pharmaceutical composition.

11. The method of claim 3 , wherein the condition is uveitis.

12. The method of claim 3 , wherein the condition is asthma.

13. A method of reducing inflammation associated with Th17 differentiation in a subject with a condition mediated by the Th17 pathway, comprising administering orally to the subject a pharmaceutical composition consisting essentially of an amount of a bacteria strain of the species Enterococcus faecium;

wherein said bacteria strain is live and lyophilized;

wherein said administering reduces inflammation associated with Th17 differentiation in uveitis, arthritis, or asthma.

14. The method of claim 1 or 13 , wherein the bacteria strain comprises a polynucleotide sequence that is a 16s rRNA gene sequence with at least 95% homology to the polynucleotide of SEQ ID NO:2 as determined by the Smith-Waterman homology search algorithm using an affine gap search with a gap open penalty of 12 and a gap extension penalty of 2, and a BLOSUM matrix of 62.

15. The method of claim 1 or 13 , wherein said bacteria strain is the bacteria strain of the species Enterococcus faecium deposited under accession number NCIMB 42487.

16. The method of claim 1 or 13 , wherein said pharmaceutical composition comprises from about 1×10 6 to about 1×10 11 CFU/g of said bacteria strain with respect to a total weight of the pharmaceutical composition.