The Gut Microbiota and Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Friend or Foe?

Progress in the understanding of the pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), once thought to be a purely psychosomatic disease, has advanced considerably and low-grade inflammation and changes in the gut microbiota now feature as potentially important. The human gut harbours a huge microb...

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Main Authors: Uday C. Ghoshal, Ratnakar Shukla, Ujjala Ghoshal, Kok-Ann Gwee, Siew C. Ng, Eamonn M. M. Quigley
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2012-01-01
Series:International Journal of Inflammation
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/151085
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author Uday C. Ghoshal
Ratnakar Shukla
Ujjala Ghoshal
Kok-Ann Gwee
Siew C. Ng
Eamonn M. M. Quigley
author_facet Uday C. Ghoshal
Ratnakar Shukla
Ujjala Ghoshal
Kok-Ann Gwee
Siew C. Ng
Eamonn M. M. Quigley
author_sort Uday C. Ghoshal
collection DOAJ
description Progress in the understanding of the pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), once thought to be a purely psychosomatic disease, has advanced considerably and low-grade inflammation and changes in the gut microbiota now feature as potentially important. The human gut harbours a huge microbial ecosystem, which is equipped to perform a variety of functions such as digestion of food, metabolism of drugs, detoxification of toxic compounds, production of essential vitamins, prevention of attachment of pathogenic bacteria to the gut wall, and maintenance of homeostasis in the gastrointestinal tract. A subset of patients with IBS may have a quantitative increase in bacteria in the small bowel (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth). Qualitative changes in gut microbiota have also been associated with IBS. Targeting the gut microbiota using probiotics and antibiotics has emerged as a potentially effective approach to the treatment of this, hitherto enigmatic, functional bowel disorder. The gut microbiota in health, quantitative and qualitative microbiota changes, and therapeutic manipulations targeting the microbiota in patients with IBS are reviewed in this paper.
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language English
publishDate 2012-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series International Journal of Inflammation
spelling doaj-art-e54c1c7d8c3f4516ae5d40a4e52fb8602025-08-20T03:26:20ZengWileyInternational Journal of Inflammation2090-80402042-00992012-01-01201210.1155/2012/151085151085The Gut Microbiota and Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Friend or Foe?Uday C. Ghoshal0Ratnakar Shukla1Ujjala Ghoshal2Kok-Ann Gwee3Siew C. Ng4Eamonn M. M. Quigley5Department of Gastroenterology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Science, Lucknow 226014, IndiaDepartment of Microbiology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Science, Lucknow 226014, IndiaDepartment of Microbiology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Science, Lucknow 226014, IndiaStomach, Liver and Bowel Clinic, Gleneagles Hospital, SingaporeDepartment of Medicine and Therapeutics, Institute of Digestive Disease, Prince of Wales Hospital, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong KongDepartment of Medicine, Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, University College Cork, Cork, IrelandProgress in the understanding of the pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), once thought to be a purely psychosomatic disease, has advanced considerably and low-grade inflammation and changes in the gut microbiota now feature as potentially important. The human gut harbours a huge microbial ecosystem, which is equipped to perform a variety of functions such as digestion of food, metabolism of drugs, detoxification of toxic compounds, production of essential vitamins, prevention of attachment of pathogenic bacteria to the gut wall, and maintenance of homeostasis in the gastrointestinal tract. A subset of patients with IBS may have a quantitative increase in bacteria in the small bowel (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth). Qualitative changes in gut microbiota have also been associated with IBS. Targeting the gut microbiota using probiotics and antibiotics has emerged as a potentially effective approach to the treatment of this, hitherto enigmatic, functional bowel disorder. The gut microbiota in health, quantitative and qualitative microbiota changes, and therapeutic manipulations targeting the microbiota in patients with IBS are reviewed in this paper.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/151085
spellingShingle Uday C. Ghoshal
Ratnakar Shukla
Ujjala Ghoshal
Kok-Ann Gwee
Siew C. Ng
Eamonn M. M. Quigley
The Gut Microbiota and Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Friend or Foe?
International Journal of Inflammation
title The Gut Microbiota and Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Friend or Foe?
title_full The Gut Microbiota and Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Friend or Foe?
title_fullStr The Gut Microbiota and Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Friend or Foe?
title_full_unstemmed The Gut Microbiota and Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Friend or Foe?
title_short The Gut Microbiota and Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Friend or Foe?
title_sort gut microbiota and irritable bowel syndrome friend or foe
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/151085
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