Authors of this paper attempted a meta-analysis of 56 studies on single-strain and multi-strain probiotics for the treatment of IBS, but trials were so heterogeneous when it came to probiotic concentration, duration of treatment, and methodology, that the meta-analysis was abandoned.
Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) for patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) has shown mixed clinical results (see recent trials here and here). In a new pilot study, published as open access, Faming Zhang and colleagues tested the safety and efficacy of a "step-up" FMT strategy in 15 steroid-dependent UC patients.
Authors of a new Cell paper gave groups of germ-free mice fecal microbiota samples from six healthy adults representing five different habitual diets: American (both a standard diet and a 'primal' diet), Bangladeshi, Malawian, and Amerindian.
A recent study of humans with celiac disease who were treated with helminths raised the possibility that an increase in microbial species richness (i.e. the number of different species present) could regulate gluten-induced inflammation in the gut.
Two gastroenterologists name the top three challenges in gut microbiota research
24 Oct 2015by Kristina Campbell
United European Gastroenterology (UEG) week starts today and runs until October 28th in Barcelona, Spain. UEG is a non-profit organization focused on advancing gastroenterology care, comprising 22,000 professional members from several European societies.
In recent years, there is growing interest in alternative treatments for both inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome.
In new understandings of IBS, diet and probiotics emerging as promising treatments
2 Oct 2015by Kristina Campbell
When talking about irritable bowel syndrome [IBS], Dr. Eamonn Quigley eschews the term 'functional disorder'. For Quigley, a gastroenterologist and researcher at Houston Methodist Hospital (USA), it's only a matter of time before the disordered physiology of IBS becomes clear.
The exact cause of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remains unclear, but more and more evidence suggests the gut microbiome contributes to disease pathogenesis.
The Third International Congress of Translational Research in Human Nutrition (ICTRHN) took place in Clermont-Ferrand, France, on June 26 & 27, 2015.
Hoffmann et al. took six different microorganisms implicated in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)-associated dysbiosis, and studied their effects on intestinal inflammation in a mono-associated mouse model.
