IBS food supplement launch: Researchers land £2M funding for microbiome analysis

12 Aug 2022 --- A team of researchers are set to investigate how cellulose-based food supplements may help people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The scientists at the University of Nottingham have received £1.8 million (US$2.2 million) funding for a three-year research project on colon fermentation.

NutritionInsight speaks with Dr. Fred Warren, co-researcher of the study, on the future targets the study will bring to the research field and supplement industry.

“One of our aims is to develop cellulose-based food ingredients which could be added to foods high in Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols (FODMAP) by food manufacturers to improve tolerance of foods by IBS patients. This research may also translate into new dietary supplements aimed at IBS patients,” says Warren.

Probiotic potentialIBS affects more than digestion, as the gut-brain axis leads to emotional discomfort.
People suffering from IBS are currently avoiding foods based on recommendations from doctors. 

Probiotics as a solution for IBS have been explored, as strains have shown to support healthy bowel habits in adults. Romane Maillet, product manager, Lallemand Health Solutions, previously told NutritionInsight that 25% of global consumers suffer from digestive health complaints.

“The painful symptoms associated with FODMAP consumption for IBS patients are believed to be linked to gas production in the colon. In this study, we will use a combination of MRI imaging at and in vitro models of colonic gas production to explore if food supplements can reduce gas production associated with FODMAPs, and therefore improve their tolerance by IBS patients, allowing them to eat foods which they currently are advised to avoid,” Warren underscores.

Previously reported is that the people suffering from IBS miss out on 20% of the year due to digestive problems, and abdominal discomfort impacts psychological and emotional well-being due to the gut-brain axis.

Observing the microbiome
Warren anticipates that the project will be able to "directly visualize the reduction in gas production in the colon of IBS patients following consumption of common FODMAPs in combination with our novel supplements, associated with reduced symptom scores.”

The research will be carried out on human volunteers, and parallel experiments using model systems to explore the biochemical and microbiological mechanisms by which the supplements alter gas production in IBS, along with microbiome analyses will be tested. 

“We will take stool samples from these patients and use them to ferment the substrates in the lab, to understand at a molecular level how these supplements can impact the metabolism of the gut microbiome to reduce gas production in the colon,” he concludes.

By Beatrice Wihlander