van den Belt Maartje, Liu Zhuang, Janssen Duijghuijsen Lonneke, Zoetendal Erwin G, Witteman Ben, de Roos Nicole M, Vos Paul, Smidt Hauke, de Wit Nicole J W
Wageningen Food & Biobased Research, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Laboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
J Nutr Sci. 2025 Jul 11;14:e46. doi: 10.1017/jns.2025.10021. eCollection 2025.
In individuals with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), eliminating dietary triggers can alleviate symptoms but may lead to nutrient deficiencies and overall health decline. Although various nutritional supplements show promising results in relieving IBS symptoms due to their potential to alter the microbiome, conclusive scientific evidence remains lacking. This exploratory study aims to assess the bifidogenic properties of four nutritional supplement interventions and their impact on IBS-symptoms, faecal microbiota composition, faecal short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentrations, stool pattern, and quality of life (QoL), compared to a placebo control. Seventy subjects with IBS, meeting the ROME IV criteria, participated in this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel intervention study. Subjects were assigned to one of the four treatment groups, receiving either resistant starch, pea fibre, chondroitin sulfate, protein hydrolysate, or placebo daily for four weeks. Daily reports on stool pattern and gastrointestinal complaints were collected. Stool samples and questionnaires on dietary intake, symptom severity, QoL, and anxiety and depression were collected at baseline and after the 4-week intervention. The results show no significant increase in abundance or faecal SCFA levels after the 4-week intervention with any of the four nutritional supplement interventions. While some improvements in symptom severity and QoL were observed within-groups, these were not significantly different from changes observed with placebo. In conclusion, the tested nutritional supplements did not increase abundance in subjects with IBS within four weeks. Furthermore, we conclude that future studies should consider a run-in period and a larger sample size to study improvements in IBS symptoms.
在肠易激综合征（IBS）患者中，消除饮食诱因可缓解症状，但可能导致营养缺乏和整体健康状况下降。尽管各种营养补充剂因其改变微生物群的潜力而在缓解IBS症状方面显示出有前景的结果，但确凿的科学证据仍然缺乏。本探索性研究旨在评估四种营养补充剂干预措施的双歧杆菌生成特性及其对IBS症状、粪便微生物群组成、粪便短链脂肪酸（SCFA）浓度、排便模式和生活质量（QoL）的影响，并与安慰剂对照进行比较。70名符合罗马IV标准的IBS患者参与了这项随机、双盲、安慰剂对照的平行干预研究。受试者被分配到四个治疗组之一，每天接受抗性淀粉、豌豆纤维、硫酸软骨素、蛋白水解物或安慰剂治疗，为期四周。收集关于排便模式和胃肠道不适的每日报告。在基线和4周干预后收集粪便样本以及关于饮食摄入、症状严重程度、生活质量以及焦虑和抑郁的问卷。结果显示，在进行四周的四种营养补充剂干预措施中的任何一种后，粪便SCFA水平或其丰度均未显著增加。虽然在组内观察到症状严重程度和生活质量有一些改善，但这些与安慰剂组观察到的变化没有显著差异。总之，在四周内，所测试的营养补充剂并未增加IBS患者体内的丰度。此外，我们得出结论，未来的研究应考虑设置一个导入期和更大的样本量，以研究IBS症状的改善情况。
