Aug 25, 2021 09:00:00

Irritable bowel syndrome with chronic diarrhea and abdominal pain may be affected by 'intestinal virus' in addition to intestinal bacteria

In recent years, the

gut microbiota ecosystem (gut microbiota) has been attracting attention as it affects human health and mental status, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), in which symptoms such as diarrhea, constipation, and abdominal pain continue. The relationship has also been pointed out . Newly, research teams such as the Mayo Clinic in the United States have published a paper that not only the gut microbiota but also the ' intestinal virome ' affects irritable bowel syndrome.

Multi-Omics Analyses Show Disease, Diet, and Transcriptome Interactions With the Virome --Gastroenterology
https://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085(21)03234-0/fulltext

Science Saturday: How disease, diet, and genomics interact with gut virome – Mayo Clinic News Network
https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/science-saturday-how-disease-diet-and-genomics-interact-with-gut-virome/

Not only are the diverse gut microbiota present in the human gut, but large numbers of viruses are also factors that shape the gut ecosystem. The virus that is in the intestines, to specifically attack the bacteria to replicate themselves bacteriophage and exerts a direct harm to the human norovirus might include.

Therefore, the intestinal virome has a direct or indirect effect on the intestine, which can change the function of the intestine and cause illness. According to Purna Kashyap, who studies intestinal bacteria and human interaction at the Mayo Clinic, the role of intestinal virus is important, especially in irritable bowel syndrome, where the intestinal flora is an essential factor in the onset. It can be. Therefore, the research team of Kashyap et al. Conducted a study to analyze the intestinal virome in a group including patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

'Most current virome studies use

metagenomic DNA sequencing ,' Kashyap said. However, it is a large number of RNA viruses that are present in the human intestine and are pathogenic ( rotavirus , Norwalk virus , picorna). You will miss ( viruses, etc.) '.

Therefore, in this study, samples were taken longitudinally from patients with irritable bowel syndrome and healthy subjects for about 6 months, and the virus particles in them were concentrated to convert the RNA genome into DNA, and then the virus flora. It is said that the analysis was performed. The research team combined the results of multi-omics analysis , which combines multiple omics analyzes that analyze the molecules that make up the body from genomic information, and the clinical and dietary data of the subjects, and what kind of effect the viral flora has on the health of the subjects. I investigated whether it would affect it.

As a result of the analysis, the research team found that the subject's gut virome was relatively stable for 6 months, and found that the virome influences gene expression related to intestinal immune function. I did. Furthermore, it was confirmed that there is a correlation between the composition and function of bacteriophage and gut microbiota, and that there are changes in bacteriophage peculiar to a subset of irritable bowel syndrome.

'This finding is important because bacteriophage may be partly involved in the formation of gut microbiota in a subset of patients with irritable bowel syndrome,' Kashyap said. It is also important when considering probiotic therapy. '

The effectiveness of probiotics, which provide healthy microbes, can depend on the presence of bacteriophage in the patient's intestines, which kills the bacteria. Therefore, some patients may need to adjust the microbes used in probiotic therapy depending on the type of bacteriophage present in the intestine.