Faecal microbiota composition associates with abdominal pain in the general population

We read with great interest the recent communication by Simrén et al,1 reporting a correlation between visceral hypersensitivity and GI symptom severity in functional GI disorders (FGID). Previously, it has been shown that visceral hypersensitivity can be modulated or even induced in animal models, by altering the composition of their gut microbiota with antibiotics or faecal transplantation from IBS donors.2 3 Hence, while a direct link between gut microbiota composition and visceral pain may need to be conclusively established, this holds great potential for translational exploitation in the treatment of IBS and other FGID. Thus far, the potential association between microbiota and abdominal pain in humans has only been investigated in one study that included 15 individuals.4 For this purpose, we studied 159 individuals (average age 59.1, 39.6% men) from the Swedish Population-based Colonoscopy (PopCol) cohort, previously described and with faecal microbiota 16S sequencing data and daily recordings of abdominal pain (number of episodes, duration and intensity) collected over the same period (7.41±7.91 days).5–7 Among these, 52 individuals (assigned to the case group) reported at least one episode