Fecal and Mucosa-Associated Intestinal Microbiota in Patients with Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome

摘要

Background Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has been associated with changes in the intestinal microbiota. Only a few studies have explored differences in the mucosa-associated microbiota between IBS patients and healthy controls (HC). Aims To characterize and compare the microbiota in mucosal and fecal samples from carefully selected patients with IBS-D and HC. Methods The cohort was composed of 23 diarrhea-predominant IBS (IBS-D) patients and 24 HC. Fresh stool samples were collected from participants prior to the collection of colonic mucosal samples from an unprepped bowel. After DNA extraction, 16S rRNA genes were sequenced by 454 pyrosequencing and analyzed using the QIIME pipeline. Results The fecal microbiota (luminal niche) of IBS-D patients was found to have reduced enteric richness compared to HC ( P ? ?25% samples of either niche. Conclusion Fecal and mucosal microbiota of IBS-D patients and HC are very similar and are not sufficient to explain the reported altered physiology and symptomatology of IBS-D. Future studies should investigate intestinal microbiome-dependent functional activity in addition to the fecal and mucosal-associated microbial composition.