A new study from UC Davis found combining a Western-style high-fat diet with antibiotic use significantly increases the risk of developing pre-inflammatory bowel disease.
The finding suggests that this combination shuts down the energy factories (mitochondria) in cells of the colon lining, leading to gut inflammation.
The study is published in Cell Host and Microbe and was conducted by Andreas Bäumler et al.
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 team 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 3.9 times higher likelihood of having pre-IBD.
The team also tested the effect of a high-fat diet and antibiotic use on the cells in the intestinal lining.
It found that a high-fat diet and antibiotics cooperate to disrupt the work of the cell’s mitochondria, shutting its 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.
The study also identified 5-aminosalicylate (mesalazine), a drug that restarts the energy factories in the intestinal lining, as a potential treatment for pre-IBD.
The team says the best approach to a healthy gut is to get rid of the preferred sustenance of harmful microbes.
This study emphasized the importance of avoiding high-fat food and abuse of antibiotics to avoid gut inflammation.
If you care about bowel health, please read studies about this diet may reduce inflammation by boosting gut health, and how gut bacteria may trigger colon cancer.
For more information about bowel diseases, please see recent studies about statins may protect your gut health from obesity, and results showing this popular weight loss diet may strongly change your gut health.
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