The association between the gut microbiota and the inflammatory bowel disease activity: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: The pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) involves complex interactions between the microbiome and the immune system. We evaluated the association between the gut microbiota and disease activity in IBD patients.

Methods: Systematic review of clinical studies based on a published protocol. Included patients had ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn’s disease (CD) classified as active or in remission. We selected bacteria assessed in at least three studies identified through electronic and manual searches (November 2015). Bias control was evaluated with the Newcastle Ottawa scale (NOS). Results of random-effects meta-analyses were presented as mean differences (MD).

Results: Three prospective and seven cross-sectional studies (NOS score 6–8) were included. Five studies included patients with CD (231 patients) and eight included patients with UC (392 patients). Compared to patients in remission, patients with active IBD had lower abundance of Clostridium coccoides (MD = −0.49, 95% CI: −0.79 to −0.19), Clostridium leptum (MD = −0.44, 95% CI: −0.74 to −0.14), Faecalibacterium prausnitzii (MD = −0.81, 95% CI: −1.23 to −0.39) and Bifidobacterium (MD = −0.37, 95% CI: −0.56 to −0.17). Subgroup analyses showed a difference in all four bacteria between patients with UC classified as active or in remission. Patients with active CD had fewer C. leptum, F. prausnitzii and Bifidobacterium, but not C. coccoides.

Conclusion: This systematic review suggests that dysbiosis may be involved in the activity of IBD and that there may be differences between patients with CD and UC.

Keywords:

• Ulcerative colitis
• Crohn’s disease
• dysbiosis
• clinical trials
• faecal microbiota

Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Reena Kumari and Dr. Jaishree Paul for providing us with valuable unpublished information about their trial.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose. This work did not receive financial support.