Researchers in Cork have discovered a new treatment for irritable bowel syndrome, writes Dr Claire O'Connell
Sometimes it pays to choose your friendly bacteria wisely. Researchers in Cork have discovered a specific strain of probiotic bacterium can reduce symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) within weeks, possibly by easing inflammation of the gut wall.
Scientists at the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre (APC) gave patients with IBS a milk drink containing strains of Bifidus infantis, Lactobacillus salivarius or no probiotic over several weeks and looked at the effects on symptoms.
"Somewhat to our surprise, we found that the bifidobacterium was very effective and the lactobacillus basically had no effect and was inseparable from the placebo," says consultant gastroenterologist Prof Eamonn Quigley, who is head of University College Cork's medical school and a principal investigator at the APC.
IBS is a chronic condition that affects 10-20 per cent of the Irish population. It interferes with normal gut contractions resulting in symptoms such as constipation, diarrhoea or abdominal cramps. But in their study of 77 IBS patients, the APC group saw that B infantis reduced symptoms and improved blood levels of inflammatory markers called cytokines.
Their findings, which were published earlier this year in the journal Gastroenterology, led the Cork scientists to collaborate with UK researchers in a larger study of 350 women with IBS, this time providing B infantis in a more practical, capsule form. Again, the probiotic reduced symptoms within a couple of weeks.
"The interesting thing was that whether people had mostly diarrhoea or mostly constipation it was still effective," says Quigley. "So in contrast to some of the new pharmacological compounds available in the United States, which only apply to certain subsets, we have some confidence that this product may actually be more widely effective in terms of IBS."
Prof Quigley believes the success of B infantis could be down to its anti-inflammatory properties in the gut, saying the idea that inflammation can be involved in IBS has gained traction in recent years.
"There's now quite wide acceptance that there's at least a subgroup of patients with IBS who have very subtle inflammation of the bowel wall," he says. "We now have more information on the properties of this particular bifidobacterium that suggests it may have some unique ability to suppress inflammation, which may be relevant to irritable bowel syndrome."
The APC's industry partner, Alimentary Health, has developed an alliance with Procter & Gamble, who have branded the probiotic preparation in the US and are introducing it to the market, says Quigley.
"It's not available in Ireland or in Europe but obviously that's something that we would like to pursue," he says. While the APC studies indicate B infantis can potentially help people with IBS, Quigley stresses all probiotics are not the same, and consumers should be wary. "There are a lot of claims out there and I think it's not too strong a statement to say that in a lot of cases the claims are not backed up by real scientific evidence," he says.
Now the APC researchers are continuing to look at the clinical use of B infantis as well as figuring out why this strain works so well in IBS, says Quigley, who earlier this year was elected president of the World Gastroenterology Organisation, which represents over 50,000 gastroenterologists.He believes the probiotic approach will yield an easy-to-swallow therapy for patients with IBS. "I think this is a very interesting signal which many would think has come from the least expected source in terms of treatment of IBS."