NEW DELHI, Dec 24: A new study has related the onset of inflammatory bowel disease with a loss of beneficial bacteria known to help with digesting complex carbohydrates — instead, patients might experience an increase in oxygen-tolerant bacteria from the mouth that travel in the gut.
A healthy gut is dominated by anaerobic bacteria, which thrive in the absence of oxygen, whereas inflammatory bowel disease is marked by an imbalanced, inflamed gut environment featuring oxygen-loving microbes.
“This research gives us a clearer picture of what’s happening in the gut at the very start of IBD (inflammatory bowel disease),” said Dr Peter Rimmer from the University of Birmingham and consultant gastroenterologist at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, UK, and a lead author on the study.
“Our findings suggest that changes in gut oxygen levels and the migration of bacteria from the mouth to the gut may play a key role in triggering inflammation — and these patterns could pave the way for earlier diagnosis and new treatments for IBD patients,” Rimmer said.
The analysis, published in the journal Gastroenterology, looked at data from previously published studies, involving more than 1,700 children and adults across 11 countries, with a recent diagnosis and before starting any treatment.
Nearly 400 had ulcerative colitis and over 675 had Crohn’s disease — both are types of inflammatory bowel disease.
Findings from the study support the ‘oxygen hypothesis’, the idea that increased levels of oxygen in the gut lining may disrupt the delicate balance of the microbiome, contributing to disease, the researchers said.
“While previous research has suggested that a shift toward oxygen-tolerant bacteria and a loss of beneficial anaerobes may be involved in IBD, this is the first study to demonstrate these changes so clearly at the onset of disease – and across multiple international datasets,” Rimmer said.
The analysis also revealed varying microbiome patterns across geographic regions, underscoring the need for global data to support future studies and improve clinical outcomes, the researchers said.
They also found a marked variability in the analytical methods employed to study the microbiome across the data analysed, and highlighting the need for standardisation in the field.
“While historically relevant, enrichment of oxygen-tolerant bacteria and depletion of anaerobes has not previously been demonstrated so starkly at disease onset and across multiple studies,” the authors wrote.
“Research targeting such perturbations at diagnosis might alter subsequent disease course and should be a priority,” they said. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
