Gut microbiota are more strongly associated with impairments in health-related quality of life than disease activity in inflammatory bowel disease

Little Rd^{1

2

3}, Jayawardana Tc¹, Zhang F¹, Houshyar Y¹, Koentgen S¹, Wu N¹, Ellepola A¹, Tavakoli P¹, Read S¹, Ho A¹, Chung A¹, Boussioutas A^{3

4}, Ward Mg^{3

4}, Sparrow Mp^{3

4}, Gibson Pr³, Ghaly S⁵, Corte C⁶, Talley Nj⁷, Leach S⁸, Lemberg D^{8

9}, Dutt S¹⁰, Paramsothy S^{11

12}, Leong R^{11

12}, Connor Sj^{13

14}, Hold Gl¹; AIM Study consortium

Affiliations

¹ Microbiome Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
² The Northern Hospital, Department of Gastroenterology, Melbourne, Australia.
³ Monash University, Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, Melbourne, Australia.
⁴ The Alfred Hospital, Department of Gastroenterology, Melbourne, Australia.
⁵ St Vincent's Hospital, Department of Gastroenterology, Sydney, Australia.
⁶ University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine, Sydney, Australia.
⁷ University of Newcastle, School of Medicine and Public Health, Newcastle, Australia.
⁸ University of New South Wales, School of Women's and Children's Health, Sydney, Australia.
⁹ Sydney Children's Hospital, Department of Gastroenterology, Sydney, Australia.
¹⁰ The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Department of Gastroenterology, Sydney, Australia.
¹¹ Concord Repatriation General Hospital, Department of Gastroenterology, Sydney, Australia.
¹² University of Sydney, Concord Clinical School, Sydney, Australia.
¹³ Liverpool Hospital, Department of Gastroenterology, Sydney, Australia.
¹⁴ University of New South Wales, Faculty of Medicine and Health - South West Sydney Clinical Campuses, Sydney, Australia.

PMID: 41020656
DOI: 10.14309/ajg.0000000000003773

Gut microbiota are more strongly associated with impairments in health-related quality of life than disease activity in inflammatory bowel disease

Little Rd et al. Am J Gastroenterol. 2025.

. 2025 Sep 29.

doi: 10.14309/ajg.0000000000003773. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Microbiome Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
² The Northern Hospital, Department of Gastroenterology, Melbourne, Australia.
³ Monash University, Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, Melbourne, Australia.
⁴ The Alfred Hospital, Department of Gastroenterology, Melbourne, Australia.
⁵ St Vincent's Hospital, Department of Gastroenterology, Sydney, Australia.
⁶ University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine, Sydney, Australia.
⁷ University of Newcastle, School of Medicine and Public Health, Newcastle, Australia.
⁸ University of New South Wales, School of Women's and Children's Health, Sydney, Australia.
⁹ Sydney Children's Hospital, Department of Gastroenterology, Sydney, Australia.
¹⁰ The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Department of Gastroenterology, Sydney, Australia.
¹¹ Concord Repatriation General Hospital, Department of Gastroenterology, Sydney, Australia.
¹² University of Sydney, Concord Clinical School, Sydney, Australia.
¹³ Liverpool Hospital, Department of Gastroenterology, Sydney, Australia.
¹⁴ University of New South Wales, Faculty of Medicine and Health - South West Sydney Clinical Campuses, Sydney, Australia.

PMID: 41020656
DOI: 10.14309/ajg.0000000000003773

Abstract

Background and aims: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) impacts health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Gut dysbiosis in IBD is common and may contribute to this observation. The aims of this study were to measure HRQoL and its association with clinical and microbial features in patients with IBD and healthy controls (HC).

Methods: Fecal and oral samples, demographics, SF-36 and IBDQ-32 surveys were collected at baseline from patients with Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC) and HCs enrolled in The Australian IBD Microbiome Study. Samples underwent 16S rRNA sequencing. Associations between HRQoL variables and alpha diversity, beta diversity and microbial taxa abundance were measured using R.

Results: 751 participants (305 HC, 232 CD, 214 UC) were included. HRQoL was lower in IBD participants compared to HCs using the SF-36 (physical component summary 51.6 vs. 55.7, p < 0.0001 and mental component summary score 45.1 vs. 52.2, p < 0.001). Despite high rates of remission, impaired IBD-HRQoL (IBDQ-32 score <170) was common in CD (42%) and UC (41%). Patients with impaired IBDQ-32 scores demonstrated lower alpha diversity (Chao1 155.2 vs. 172.4, p = 0.015) and distinct beta diversity (R2 = 0.003, p = 0.019) compared to those with preserved IBD-HRQoL. 62 genera were associated with at least one HRQoL measure in both UC and CD patients. The number and strength of associations between genera and HRQoL measures outweighed microbial associations with clinical and biochemical activity.

Conclusion: Alterations in gut microbiota are associated with HRQoL outcomes in patients with IBD and healthy controls.

Keywords: gut microbiome (gut microbiota); gut-brain axis (gut-brain-microbiome axis); health-related quality of life (HRQoL); inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

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Gut microbiota are more strongly associated with impairments in health-related quality of life than disease activity in inflammatory bowel disease

Affiliations

Gut microbiota are more strongly associated with impairments in health-related quality of life than disease activity in inflammatory bowel disease

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources