Differences in Gut Microbial Composition correlate with Regional Brain Volumes in Irritable Bowel Syndrome. human gut metagenome

Preclinical and clinical evidence supports the concept of bidirectional brain gut microbiome interactions. We aimed to determine if subgroups of irritable bowel syndrome subjects (IBS) can be identified based on differences in gut microbial composition, and if there are correlations between gut microbial measures and structural brain signatures in IBS.Behavioral measures, stool samples and structural brain images were collected from 30 adult IBS and 23 healthy control subjects (HCs). 16S rRNA gene sequencing (V3-V5 region, 454 platform) was used to characterize stool microbial communities. T1 weighted brain images were acquired on a Siemens Allegra 3T scanner, and morphological measures were computed for 165 brain regions.