A study published in Science Translational Medicine examined gut microbiota composition in irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease patients.
Researchers collected stool samples from 1,792 individuals with either IBD or IBS. They analyzed gut microbiota composition using shotgun metagenomic sequencing.
Researchers combined species-level and strain-level profiles with bacterial growth rates, metabolic functions, antibiotic resistance and virulence factor analysis to identify bacterial species that are possibly involved with IBS and IBD. Although there was substantial overlap between IBS and IBD samples, researchers were able to use gut microbiota composition to differentiate those with IBD from those with IBS.
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