Fecal Metabolites As Non-Invasive Biomarkers of Gut Diseases

Abstract

Recent studies have shown the importance of the human intestinal microbiome in maintaining a healthy gastrointestinal tract, as well as in the development of pathological processes. The intestinal microbiome manifests itself primarily as fecal metabolites. In the past decade, there has been growing interest in studying its composition, which for the most part had to do with the possibility of using the metabolomic analysis in clinical diagnosis. In contrast to the comprehensive description of blood serum, urine, saliva, and cerebrospinal fluid metabolites, data on fecal metabolites is sparse. Despite the instrumental and methodological achievements in the metabolomic analysis in general, the analysis of fecal metabolome remains less well developed, mainly because of the inhomogeneity of its composition and the lack of standardized methods for collecting, processing, and analyzing fecal samples. This review summarizes data on methods for studying and describing various groups of fecal metabolites. It also assesses their potential as tools in the diagnosis of gastrointestinal diseases.

Evaluation of different stool extraction methods for metabolomics measurements in human faecal samples

“… 2 Faecal samples show great variability in their material content and characteristics, which makes it difficult to standardise the process from collection to processing and analysis including the analytical platform. 3 The latter also defines the sensitivity of the analysis and the type of analytes available for analyses. Apart from the aforementioned differences of stool samples, faecal metabolomics might be affected by different confounding factors such as diet, the host and microbial metabolism.…”

Evaluation of the Effects of the Tritordeum-Based Diet Compared to the Low-FODMAPs Diet on the Fecal Metabolome of IBS-D Patients: A Preliminary Investigation

“…Specifically, alpha-muurolene—belonging to the class of terpenes—in LFD T 1 was significant higher compared to the baseline. Previous evidence supported the idea that terpenes are strictly correlated to potentially beneficial implications in conditions of low inflammation, such as IBS-D [ 27 , 28 ]. In fact, it was demonstrated how the abundance of some intestinal microorganisms causing gastrointestinal infections ( Campylobacter jejuni and Clostridium difficile ), compared to others, reduces the number of some secondary metabolites (such as terpene metabolites) [ 29 ].…”

Integrated analysis of the transcriptome and its interaction with the metabolome in metabolic associated fatty liver disease: Gut microbiome signatures, correlation networks, and effect of PNPLA3 genotype

“…Stronger interactions between the analyzed microbial and human transcripts and stool metabolites’ concentrations were observed in the MAFLD network, but not in the SH one. As gut metabolites are the product of metabolic pathways that requires the combined expression of a wide variety of microbial and human genes [35], changes in the structure of the intestinal microbiota and its active members may alter the metabolic activity and metabolite production during the spectrum of MAFLD progression.…”