Prebiotics for irritable bowel syndrome

Abstract

Evaluation of: Silk DBA, Davis A, Vulevic J, Tzortzis G, Gibson GR. Clinical trial: the effects of a trans-galactooligosaccharide on faecal microbiota and symptoms in irritable bowel syndrome. Aliment. Pharmacol. Ther. 29, 508–518 (2009).

While a variety of probiotic preparations have been quite extensively studied in the short-term treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), little is known regarding the efficacy of prebiotics – the nondigestible but fermentable foods that promote the growth of one or a number of species of beneficial commensal flora in the human colon – in IBS. In this study, a specially designed prebiotic, a trans-galactooligosaccharide, was studied in two doses, 3.5 and 7 g, in a single-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 4-weeks duration in Rome II-positive IBS patients. The researchers found that the prebiotic altered the fecal flora, increasing the numbers of Bifidobacteria in a dose-dependent manner and also improved, but in a less predictable manner, individual IBS symptoms, such as flatulence and bloating, as well as impacting on a composite score of the subjects’ global assessment of relief and quality of life. This study indicates that prebiotics, either on their own or in combination with a probiotic, deserve further study in IBS.

Keywords::

• fecal microflora
• functional gastrointestinal disorder
• gut flora
• irritable bowel syndrome
• microbiota
• prebiotic
• trans-galactooligosaccharide

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This article was supported, in part, by grants from The Science Foundation, Ireland. Eamonn MM Quigley is associated with a campus company, Alimentary Health, which holds patents in the area of the gut flora and probiotics, and has served as a consultant to Procter & Gamble, Salix, Sucampo, Ironwood, Boeheringer Ingelheim, Reckitts Benkhiser, Novartis, Movetis, GlaxoSmithKline, McNeil Consumer Health Care and Schering. The author has received research support from Alimentary Health, Procter & Gamble, Movetis, Boehringer Ingelheim and Medtronic, and has participated in speaking engagements for Procter & Gamble, Norgine, Nycomed, Reckitts Benkhiser, Novartis, Danone, Yakult and Prometheus. The author has no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.