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. 2021 May 12:11:524851.
doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.524851. eCollection 2021.

The Effects of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation on the Symptoms and the Duodenal Neurogenin 3, Musashi 1, and Enteroendocrine Cells in Patients With Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Tarek Mazzawi  1   2   3 , Magdy El-Salhy  2   3   4 , Gülen Arslan Lied  1   2   3 , Trygve Hausken  1   2   3
Affiliations

The Effects of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation on the Symptoms and the Duodenal Neurogenin 3, Musashi 1, and Enteroendocrine Cells in Patients With Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Tarek Mazzawi et al. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. .

Abstract

Introduction: Interactions between the gut microbiota and enteroendocrine cells play important role in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Reduced stem cell densities and their differentiation into enteroendocrine cells may cause abnormal densities of the duodenal enteroendocrine cells in IBS patients.

Materials and methods: We aimed to investigate the effects of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) on stem cell differentiation into enteroendocrine cells as detected by neurogenin 3, stem cells as detected by Musashi 1, and the enteroendocrine cells in the duodenum of IBS patients. The study included 16 IBS patients according to Rome III criteria. Four patients were excluded. The remaining patients (n = 12, four females and eight males) were divided according to the cause of IBS into post-infectious (n = 6) and idiopathic (n = 6) IBS. They completed the following questionnaires before and 3 weeks after FMT: IBS-Symptom Severity Scoring system (IBS-SSS) and IBS-Symptom Questionnaire (IBS-SQ). Feces donated by healthy relatives of the patients were transplanted via gastroscope. Biopsies were taken from the descending part of the duodenum at baseline and 3 weeks after FMT. They were immunostained for neurogenin 3, Musashi 1, and all types of duodenal enteroendocrine cells and quantified by computerized image analysis. Microbiota analyses of feces collected just before and 3 weeks after FMT were performed using GA-map™ Dysbiosis test (Genetic Analysis AS, Oslo, Norway).

Results: The total scores for IBS-SSS and IBS-SQ were significantly improved 3 weeks after receiving FMT, P = 0.0009 and <0.0001, respectively. The stem cell densities of neurogenin 3 increased significantly following FMT (P = 0.0006) but not for Musashi 1 (P = 0.42). The cell densities of chromogranin A, cholecystokinin, gastric inhibitory peptide, serotonin, and somatostatin, but not for secretin, have significantly changed in both IBS groups after 3 weeks from receiving FMT.

Conclusion: More than two-thirds of IBS patients experienced improvement in their symptoms parallel to changes in the enteroendocrine cells densities 3 weeks after FMT. The changes in the enteroendocrine cell densities do not appear to be caused by changes in the stem cells or their early progenitors rather by changes in the differentiation progeny as detected by neurogenin 3. The study was retrospectively registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (ID: NCT03333291).

Clinical trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT03333291.

Keywords: cell densities; duodenum; fecal microbiota transplantation; gut hormones; irritable bowel syndrome; microbiota; neuroendocrine; stem cells.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Neurogenin 3 cell densities before and after fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in (A) total, (B) post-infectious and (C) idiopathic irritable bowel syndrome patients. The dotted line represents the mean cell densities for the healthy control group. *** indicates P < 0.001.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Neurogenin 3 immunoreactive cells in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (A) before and (B) after fecal microbiota transplantation.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Musashi 1 cell densities before and after fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in (A) total, (B) post-infectious and (C) idiopathic irritable bowel syndrome patients. The dotted line represents the mean cell densities for the healthy control group.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Secretin immunoreactive cells in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (A) before and (B) after fecal microbiota transplantation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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