Trust your gut: How a specific gut bacteria could help people living with IBS

Millions of people who live with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) could find relief in a specific diet, if they have a particular gut bacteria that could help pinpoint the right treatment, a new study has found.

Researchers said the bacteria could be used as biomarkers to help identify IBS patients who could benefit from a low-FODMAP diet, which involves avoiding certain foods that could trigger the condition.

IBS is characterised by symptoms like stomach cramps, bloating, diarrhoea and constipation, and is usually a lifelong problem. It is thought to affect approximately one in 20 people in the UK alone, and tens of millions more around the world.

The condition is so common that some celebrities have made it known that they suffer from IBS too. These include model Tyra Banks and actor Kirsten Dunst, who both credit a low-FODMAP diet to help keep their symptoms in check.

In the last decade, the low-FODMAP diet has become a commonly-prescribed diet for IBS patients, many of whom have reported improvements with their digestive system. Nutritionists and dieticians all over the world recommend it to ease the uncomfortable symptoms.

It was first developed in the early 2000s, by researchers in the Department of Gastroenterology at Monash University, Melbourne. They found a group of carbohydrates that the small intestine cannot absorb or digest, and identified a wide range of foods that have those carbohydrates.

The foods include fruit, vegetables, breads, cereals, nuts, legumes, dairy products, and processed foods. But although the diet has been proven to help ease the symptoms of many IBS sufferers, it is complex and restrictive, and can be difficult to follow.

It often requires people to spend a lot of time planning and preparing their food, and drastically reduces their options for convenience food - and not everyone with IBS benefits from it.

Other treatments for IBS are limited to over-the-counter medications, prescribed antidepressants that can help ease IBS symptoms, and psychological therapy to reduce stress and anxiety, which are potential triggers of the condition.

But now, joint research conducted by the Wellcome Sanger Institute, The University of Cambridge, and Addenbrooke’s Hospital could help shed light on the mechanisms behind the condition and potentially provide new treatments.

Using in-depth microbiome analysis, the study found that people with IBS can be divided into two groups with different collections of gut bacteria.

While the first group had a bacteria profile that was similar to healthy individuals, researchers found that the other group had a distinctive and abnormal gut bacteria profile.

Both groups followed a low-FODMAP diet for four weeks and while 75 per cent of overall cases improved with the diet, it was the group with the abnormal gut bacteria profile and benefited the most.

The improvement in this group’s digestive system correlated with a shift in the gut bacteria towards a more normal, healthy profile, said the study, which was published in the journal Gut.

Dr Stephen Moss, joint first author and consultant gastroenterologist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, said of the findings: “IBS affects roughly one in 10 people globally, with limited effective therapies.

“The condition often has a huge impact on quality of life and it’s only been over the last decade or so that research has started to investigate the potential mechanisms that are involved.”

Dr Kevin Vervier, joint first author and senior staff scientist at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, added: “We are hopeful that this research could lead to a personalised approach to IBS, which is supported by genomic research.”

The researchers called for further studies to understand the link between bacteria found in IBS patients to see if these bacteria could be a new target for IBS therapies.

Dr Simon Smale, gastroenterologist and chair of The IBS Network, told The Independent: “This is another significant advance in our understanding of IBS.

“This study advances our appreciation of the impact of specific changes in the colonic microbiota on the genesis of symptoms in patients with the disease. And it has implications for potential treatments which may be effective, for specific patient groups, based upon their colonic microbiome.

“It is a further step towards offering targeted therapies for patients with this complex and often poorly understood condition.”