The gut microbiome and irritable bowel syndrome.

F1000Research. 2018;7
Full text from:

Plain language summary

This study is a review of role of gut microbiome plays in the pathophysiology of Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) sufferers. The author’s main objective was to identify the biomarkers that may lead into diagnosing and choosing best available therapy available from various interventions available for IBS that targets the gut microbiome, such as prebiotics, probiotics, non-absorbable antibiotics, diet and faecal microbial transplant (FMT). The authors concluded that to enable the right treatment for IBS sufferers it would be better to understand what constitutes a healthy gut rather than deciphering what is abnormal.

Abstract

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the most common functional gastrointestinal disorders encountered in clinical practice. It is a heterogeneous disorder with a multifactorial pathogenesis. Recent studies have demonstrated that an imbalance in gut bacterial communities, or "dysbiosis", may be a contributor to the pathophysiology of IBS. There is evidence to suggest that gut dysbiosis may lead to activation of the gut immune system with downstream effects on a variety of other factors of potential relevance to the pathophysiology of IBS. This review will highlight the data addressing the emerging role of the gut microbiome in the pathogenesis of IBS and review the evidence for current and future microbiome based treatments.

Lifestyle medicine

Fundamental Clinical Imbalances : Digestive, absorptive and microbiological
Patient Centred Factors : Mediators/Gut microbiome
Environmental Inputs : Diet ; Nutrients ; Microorganisms
Personal Lifestyle Factors : Nutrition ; Environment
Functional Laboratory Testing : Stool

Methodological quality

Allocation concealment : Not applicable
Publication Type : Journal Article ; Review

Metadata