The exact cause of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remains unclear, but more and more evidence suggests the gut microbiome contributes to disease pathogenesis.

Can the gut microbiota be a target for therapy, then? Doctors and patients alike are becoming aware of this possibility. This review by Berg, Clemente, and Colombel goes through different therapeutic options — diet, prebiotics, probiotics, antibiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantion — focusing on how each one alters the intestinal microbiota and how long its effects last.

Authors say that effecting long-term change in adult microbiome composition is proving difficult. Therapies that target the microbiota tend to trigger rapid changes, but once a therapy is discontinued, the microbiota usually revert to their original state. The authors conclude that so far, doctors’ ability to treat IBD through short-term manipulations of the gut microbiota is limited. Adjustments to current therapies may render them more effective in the future.

Reference:

Berg D, Clemente JC, Colombel JF. Can inflammatory bowel disease be permanently treated with short-term interventions on the microbiome? Expert Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2015 Jun;9(6):781-95. doi: 10.1586/17474124.2015.1013031.