Cure8 research brief
This study suggests that even when people with IBD are in clinical and biological remission on long-term biologic therapy, their gut microbiome composition and inferred functions can still differ from laboratory reference ranges and vary widely between individuals.
That matters because microbiome features are being studied as possible markers of disease activity, recovery, or treatment effects.
Researchers studying the microbiome in IBD, clinicians and gastroenterologists managing patients on biologics, and patients with IBD on long-term biologic therapy who are interested in microbiome research.
This pilot, cross-sectional study analyzed gut microbiome composition (16S rRNA sequencing) and inferred functional features in 15 people with IBD (7 Crohn’s, 8 ulcerative colitis) who were on long-term biologic therapy and in clinical/biological remission at the time of sampling.
The authors found substantial interindividual variability and that many microbiome metrics—Shannon diversity, Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, and taxa linked to mucin degradation, lactate production, and LPS production—fell outside the laboratory-specific reference intervals in a notable portion of participants.
No statistically significant differences were seen between Crohn’s vs UC or between different biologic therapies after correction for multiple testing. This study is cross-sectional, small (n=15), and lacks pre-treatment or healthy control samples, so it cannot determine whether biologic therapy restores the microbiome or causes the observed features.
The authors suggest longitudinal studies to track microbiome changes during biologic treatment.
Small sample size, cross-sectional design, and absence of pre-treatment and healthy control samples limit causal conclusions. Findings are exploratory and hypothesis-generating; they support the need for larger longitudinal studies.
Review the original publication for the complete reporting, methods, and context.
This Cure8 brief is based on source text from the linked article. Cure8 is informational only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
If fecal GP2 reliably reflects UC activity and microbial changes, it could become a noninvasive marker to track inflammation or to study disease mechanisms that differ between UC and CD.
Non-invasive fecal lipid markers could help differentiate UC from CD and improve diagnostic molecular profiling in IBD if validated, which may be useful for patients and clinicians seeking less-invasive diagnostic tools.
Researchers are exploring circRNAs as new molecular players in IBD inflammation; that could lead to future biomarker tests or novel treatments targeting immune pathways relevant to Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
