Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common gastrointestinal functional disorder that can greatly affect the patient’s well being. Multiple interacting mechanisms, including alterations in the intestinal microbiota, are suspected to lie behind IBS aetiology.

A research article to be published on December 21, 2009 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. The research team from Finland quantified fourteen bacterial phylotypes which corresponded with bacterial species of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract from faecal samples of IBS patients and healthy controls. In their study, assays for analyzing phylotype specific bacterial alterations in association to IBS were developed and applied.

They found a phylotype with 85% similarity to C. thermosuccinogenes was quantified in significantly different quantities among the diarrhoea-predominant (IBS-D) and control subjects, IBS-D and mixed symptom-subtype (IBS-M) subjects. A phylotype with 94% similarity to R. torques was more prevalent in IBS-D patients’ intestinal microbiota than in that of control subjects. A phylotype with 93% similarity to R. torques was associated with control samples when compared with IBS-M. Additionally, a R. bromii-like phylotype was associated with constipation-predominant (IBS-C) patients in comparison to control subjects.

The researchers drew a conclusion that the detected altering phylotypes might be useful as targets in diagnostic, therapeutic and host-microbe interaction studies.

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Reference
Lyra A, Rinttilä T, Nikkilä J, Krogius-Kurikka L, Kajander K, Malinen E, Mättö J, Mäkelä L, Palva A. Diarrhoea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome distinguishable by 16S rRNA gene phylotype quantification. World J Gastroenterol 2009; 15(47)

Correspondence to
Airi Palva, Professor, Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, PO Box 66, Helsinki 00014, Finland. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Telephone: +358-9-19157058 Fax: +358-9-19157033

About World Journal of Gastroenterology

World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG), a leading international journal in gastroenterology and hepatology, has established a reputation for publishing first class research on esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, viral hepatitis, colorectal cancer, and H pylori infection and provides a forum for both clinicians and scientists. WJG has been indexed and abstracted in Current Contents/Clinical Medicine, Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch) and Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, Index Medicus, MEDLINE and PubMed, Chemical Abstracts, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Abstracts Journals, Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology and Hepatology, CAB Abstracts and Global Health. ISI JCR 2008 IF: 2.081. WJG is a weekly journal published by WJG Press. The publication dates are the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th day of every month. WJG is supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30224801 and No. 30424812, and was founded with the name of China National Journal of New Gastroenterology on October 1, 1995, and renamed WJG on January 25, 1998.

Ye-Ru Wang
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World Journal of Gastroenterology