Thursday, January 08, 2015

Read This Before You Get a Colonoscopy

Bowel cleaning that uses two separate smaller dosages of polyethylene glycol electrolyte solution appears to introduce fewer alterations to the intestinal microbiota than a bowel cleanse with a single, larger dose of MoviPrep (Salix). The split-dose protocol has also been shown in previous studies to be effective for bowel cleansing before colonoscopy.

The results of the gut microbiome study appeared in Gut.

In general, bowel cleaning resulted in a 31-fold decrease in microbial load. Approximately one quarter (22%) of participants experienced a marked alteration in the community composition of their microbiota after bowel cleansing. The shift in the microbial community was larger in the single-dose protocol than in the double-dose protocol.

Although the gut microbiome recovered to baseline after both protocols, the recovery was more rapid in the double-dose protocol than the single-dose protocol. Patients who received the larger, single dose of polyethylene glycol required as long as 1 month to recover their gut microbiome.

The investigators noted that some of the bacterial species that were enriched after bowel cleansing were similar to those associated with irritable bowel syndrome. Moreover, patients with irritable bowel syndrome have elevated levels of fecal serine proteases, which are believed to increase intestinal permeability and possibly lead to visceral hypersensitivity.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

What about all the people told to use Miralax (propylene glycol) for their constipation? Hasn't seemed to cure them of their constipation or abdominal discomfort. Microbes are not generic. There are good ones and bad ones. Propylene glycol would appear to be more hazardous to the good ones. Not surprising.