A new study by Cedars-Sinai researchers has found that breathing tests can help customize therapies for patients with IBS. that using breathalyzers to identify gut gas profiles has the potential to help develop more personalized therapies for people diagnosed with cancer. irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). This most common gastrointestinal disorder affects 10-15% of the world’s population.
The disease spectrum of IBS includes diarrhea-predominant (SCI-D) or constipation-predominant (SCI-C) subtypes. Cedars-Sinai scientists have now linked specific gas-producing microbial patterns in the intestinal tract to the different subtypes of IBS.
In this study, published in the journal American Journal of Gastroenterologythe researchers reviewed data from two randomized, controlled clinical trials and found distinct microbial signatures associated with the two IBS subtypes.
“We found a clear relationship between breath test scores and the gut microbiome, each of which is a predictor of IBS phenotypes,” said Mark Pimentel, MD, executive director of the Medically Associated Science and Technology (MAST) Program at Cedars- Sinai and lead author of the study.
“Using breath tests to identify intestinal gas profiles, along with stool analysis, we found that IBS-C patients, who more often presented with constipation, had higher levels of methane and organisms methane producers in their gut. In contrast, IBS-D subjects, in whom diarrhea is common, had elevated levels of hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide in expired air as well as a higher relative abundance of hydrogen sulfide-producing bacteria. in their gut microbiome,” said Pimentel, who is also a professor of medicine.
The researchers were able to identify links between the presence of specific organisms in the intestine and the expression of the disease. Methanobrevibacter smithii has emerged as the major methane-producing microorganism in irritable bowel syndrome. The hydrogen sulfide-generating bacteria in IBS-D were Fusobacterium and Desulfovibrio..
“Although the underlying mechanism of irritable bowel syndrome is poorly understood, we continue to find that the gut microbiome plays a key role. In our study, IBS-C subjects with a distinct exhaled methane gas profile had a greater diversity of microbes in the intestinal tract. In contrast, microbial diversity was lower in subjects with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D) whose breath contained more hydrogen sulfide,” said Maria Jesus Villanueva-Millan, Doctor of Science, specialist in the MAST (Medically Associated Science and Technology) program and lead author of the study.
Measuring hydrogen, methane and hydrogen sulfide using a non-invasive breath test is key to fully understanding IBS and developing effective treatments, Villanueva Millan added.
“Knowing the microtypes in such detail is already enabling the development of personalized therapies for IBS-C and IBS-D. This approach to precision medicine will include new drugs and new treatment methods. This precision medicine approach will include new pharmacological products, including the use of antibiotics, as well as the development of new dietary strategies for each disease subtype,” Pimentel said.
