Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26069274›Full record

ArticleGut2016

Stool consistency is strongly associated with gut microbiota richness and composition, enterotypes and bacterial growth rates.

Doris Vandeputte, Gwen Falony, Sara Vieira-Silva, Raul Y Tito, Marie Joossens, Jeroen Raes

2 registry-linked trialsOpen access · hybridAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Gut, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 576 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
576citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
27.9field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT03308461 nacompletednot on this map

Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Constipation With Difficult Defecation

TypeinterventionalSponsorThe Second Hospital of Nanjing Medical UniversityRan2013 to 2017Enrolled22ConditionsGut Microbiota, ConstipationArmsFecal Microbiota suspension
NCT05488912 completednot on this mapstarted 2022, after this paper: background citation

Fiber-rich Foods, Weight Status, and the Gut Microbiota: A Comparative Study in NH Hispanic Adults at Risk for Food Insecurity

TypeobservationalSponsorUniversity of New HampshireRan2022 to 2024Enrolled61ConditionsFood Insecurity, Overweight and Obesity
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

576 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 1,025 citations in OpenAlex.

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  20. Bridging the gap:Gut microbes · 2026
    Review

516 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Doris VandeputteDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, KU Leuven, Rega Institute, Leuven, Belgium VIB, Center for the Biology of Disease, Leuven, Belgium Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences, Microbiology Unit, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
Gwen FalonyDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, KU Leuven, Rega Institute, Leuven, Belgium VIB, Center for the Biology of Disease, Leuven, Belgium.
Sara Vieira-SilvaDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, KU Leuven, Rega Institute, Leuven, Belgium VIB, Center for the Biology of Disease, Leuven, Belgium.
Raul Y TitoDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, KU Leuven, Rega Institute, Leuven, Belgium VIB, Center for the Biology of Disease, Leuven, Belgium Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences, Microbiology Unit, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
Marie JoossensDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, KU Leuven, Rega Institute, Leuven, Belgium VIB, Center for the Biology of Disease, Leuven, Belgium Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences, Microbiology Unit, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
Jeroen RaesDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, KU Leuven, Rega Institute, Leuven, Belgium VIB, Center for the Biology of Disease, Leuven, Belgium Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences, Microbiology Unit, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
KU Leuven · BEVIB-KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology · BERega Institute for Medical Research · BEVrije Universiteit Brussel · BE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThe assessment of potentially confounding factors affecting colon microbiota composition is essential to the identification of robust microbiome based disease markers. Here, we investigate the link between gut microbiota variation and stool consistency using Bristol Stool Scale classification, which reflects faecal water content and activity, and is considered a proxy for intestinal colon transit time.

designThrough 16S rDNA Illumina profiling of faecal samples of 53 healthy women, we evaluated associations between microbiome richness, Bacteroidetes:Firmicutes ratio, enterotypes, and genus abundance with self-reported, Bristol Stool Scale-based stool consistency. Each sample's microbiota growth potential was calculated to test whether transit time acts as a selective force on gut bacterial growth rates.

resultsStool consistency strongly correlates with all known major microbiome markers. It is negatively correlated with species richness, positively associated to the Bacteroidetes:Firmicutes ratio, and linked to Akkermansia and Methanobrevibacter abundance. Enterotypes are distinctly distributed over the BSS-scores. Based on the correlations between microbiota growth potential and stool consistency scores within both enterotypes, we hypothesise that accelerated transit contributes to colon ecosystem differentiation. While shorter transit times can be linked to increased abundance of fast growing species in Ruminococcaceae-Bacteroides samples, hinting to a washout avoidance strategy of faster replication, this trend is absent in Prevotella-enterotyped individuals. Within this enterotype adherence to host tissue therefore appears to be a more likely bacterial strategy to cope with washout.

conclusionsThe strength of the associations between stool consistency and species richness, enterotypes and community composition emphasises the crucial importance of stool consistency assessment in gut metagenome-wide association studies.

Indexed as

Gastrointestinal TransitAdultFecesFemaleGastrointestinal MicrobiomeHealthy VolunteersHumansMiddle AgedSelf ReportINTESTINAL BACTERIAINTESTINAL MICROBIOLOGY

Identifiers

PMID26069274
PMCPMC4717365
OpenAlexW2178459747

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.