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Intestinal microbiota of patients with IBS varied according to abdominal bloating
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ORLANDO, Fla. — Patients with irritable bowel syndrome who experienced abdominal bloating had significantly different intestinal microbiota composition than those without bloating, according to data presented at Digestive Disease Week.
Researchers compared the intestinal microbiota of patients with IBS (n=60) to healthy controls (n=20), as well as those of patients with IBS and abdominal bloating (n=46) to those without (n=6). All participants had IBS according to ROME III criteria with mild-to-moderate symptom severity, and reported symptoms during a 2-week run-in period.
Fecal samples were collected, and pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene was performed. Investigators developed a core measurable microbiome (CMM) that included operational taxonomic units (OTUs) present in 75% or more of patients. This CMM consisted of 46 OTUs, including 20 at the genera level and 26 at the species level.
Linear discriminant analysis indicated significant differentiation between patients with IBS and controls, as well as among those with IBS with and without bloating. Using ANOVA analysis, patients with IBS and bloating had significantly lower amounts of Firmicutes (Streptococcus parasanguinis, Subdoligranulum variabile and members of Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae and the Anaerovorax and Anaerotuncus genera). Patients with IBS and no bloating had significantly elevated amounts of Lactobacillus and Streptococcus parasanguinis. A significant decrease in microbial richness compared with controls was observed among those without bloating (P=.01), but not among those with bloating.
“We demonstrated that IBS patients could be differentiated from healthy controls based on their intestinal microbiota, [and that] IBS patients could be further differentiated from one another based on subcategory by bloating symptoms,” researcher Yehuda Ringel, MD, associate professor of medicine in the gastroenterology and hepatology division at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, said. “Our results provide the rationale for research to clarify … the microbial functionality of the observed differences in the intestinal microbiota, and possibly the mechanism by which they lead to … IBS symptoms and abdominal bloating.”
Disclosure: The researchers reported numerous financial disclosures.
For more information:
Ringel Y. #480: Molecular Characterization of the Intestinal Microbiota in Patients With and Without Abdominal Bloating. Presented at: Digestive Disease Week 2013; May 18-21, Orlando, Fla.