Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) occurs in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. These diseases cause chronic inflammation and weakness of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. IBD is associated with an imbalance of bacteria in the gut. Probiotics are beneficial bacteria found in the intestinal flora. Now a review reports that probiotic microbes producing compounds like butyric acid can reduce GI inflammation and treat IBD.
The review, published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology, examined therapeutic agents for IBD. Researchers from Ghent University in Belgium, reviewed studies on butyric acid’s effects on the digestive tract. IBD patients are known to have reduced strains of gut bacteria that produce butyric acid. Butyric acid is known to have anti-inflammatory and immune boosting effects in the intestines.
The researchers found that butyrate producing bacteria strains such as Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Butyricicoccus pullicaecorum can normalize gut bacteria levels and help IBD symptoms. Furthermore, F. prausnitzil and B. pullicaecorum may secrete other beneficial anti-inflammatory compounds in addition to butyric acid.
“As butyric acid-producing bacteria are naturally depleted in IBD patients, we will need to identify strains that are able to colonize the gut without being outcompeted,” says researcher Prof. Filip Van Immerseel, a medical microbiologist from Ghent University in Belgium, in a news release. “Many bacterial species produce butyric acid and possibly other anti-inflammatory molecules so it’s a case of finding which is the most robust under these conditions.”
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