In a new study from the University of California, Davis, researchers found combining a Western-style high-fat diet with antibiotic use significantly increases the risk of developing pre-inflammatory bowel disease.
The study suggests that this combination shuts down the energy factories (mitochondria) in cells of the colon lining, leading to gut inflammation.
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) affects approximately 11% of people worldwide. It is characterized by recurring episodes of abdominal pain, bloating, and changes in bowel habits.
IBS patients with mucosal inflammation and changes in the gut’s microbial composition are considered pre-IBD.
In the study, the team tested 43 healthy adults and 49 adult patients diagnosed with IBS. The researchers measured fecal calprotectin, a biomarker for intestinal inflammation, of participants.
Elevated levels of fecal calprotectin indicated a pre-IBD condition. The study identified 19 patients with IBS as pre-IBD.
The researchers found that all participants who consumed a high-fat diet and used antibiotics were at 8.6 times higher risk for having pre-IBD than those on a low-fat diet and had no recent history of antibiotic use.
Participants with the highest fat consumption were about 2.8 times more likely to have pre-IBD than those with the lowest fat intake. A history of recent antibiotic usage alone was associated with a 3.9 times higher likelihood of having pre-IBD.
The findings showed that a history of antibiotics in individuals consuming a high-fat diet was linked to the greatest risk for pre-IBD.
The team also found that a high-fat diets and antibiotics cooperate to disrupt the work of gut cells’ mitochondria, shutting their ability to burn oxygen. This disruption causes a reduction in cells’ oxygen consumption and leads to oxygen leakage into the gut.
The body’s beneficial bacteria thrive in environments lacking oxygen such as the large intestine. Higher oxygen levels in the gut promote bacterial imbalances and inflammation.
With the disruption in the gut environment, a vicious cycle of replacing the good bacteria with potentially harmful pro-inflammatory microbes that are more oxygen tolerant begins. This in turn leads to mucosal inflammation linked to pre-IBD conditions.
If you care about gut health, please read studies about causes and treatments of common gut pain, gassiness, bloating and findings of this type of gut bacteria may cause bowel cancer.
For more information about gut diseases prevention and treatment, please see recent studies about common heartburn drugs may foster harmful bacteria in your gut and results showing that common gut disease linked to substance use disorders.
The study is published in Cell Host and Microbe. One author of the study is Andreas Bäumler.
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