The diagnostic and prognostic potential of gut bacteria in inflammatory bowel disease

Abstract

The gut microbiome serves as a signaling hub that integrates environmental inputs with genetic and immune signals to influence the host’s metabolism and immunity. Gut bacteria are intricately connected with human health and disease state, with specific bacteria species driving the characteristic dysbiosis found in gastrointestinal conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); thus, gut bacteria changes could be harnessed to improve IBD diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. The advancement in next-generation sequencing techniques such as 16S rRNA and whole-genome shotgun sequencing has allowed the exploration of the complexity of the gut microbial ecosystem with high resolution. Current microbiome data is promising and appears to perform better in some studies than the currently used fecal inflammation biomarker, calprotectin, in predicting IBD from healthy controls and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). This study reviews current data on the differential potential of gut bacteria within IBD cohorts, and between IBD and other gastrointestinal diseases.