BiomeDx receives funding from the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) to investigate the microbiome of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
VIENNA, 9th May 2023:
A new collaboration between Biome Diagnostics and the Medical University of Vienna aims to develop a new microbial biomarker that can identify patients suffering from IBS. But why stop here? With that in mind, BiomeDx defined as a goal of this study not only to identify, but also to treat IBS. The project results should pave the way for non-invasive diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome and biofilm-targeted therapies that can also be applicable to other microbiome-related gastrointestinal diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer.
As part of the research project, the involved parties aim to:
• demonstrate the microbial signature for irritable bowel syndrome with biofilms in stool samples from patients and,
• analyze the effects of endoscopic biofilm removal on restoring microbiome composition and bile acid metabolism.
Bacterial biofilms are present in about half of all IBS patients and can currently only be detected by invasive procedures such as endoscopy or microscopic analysis of intestinal biopsies. Biofilms cover a large part of the intestine and washing during endoscopy could represent an innovative new treatment approach.