Gut Microbiota May Predict the Short-Term Recurrence of Symptomatic Uncomplicated Diverticular Disease.

SUDD recurrence within 6 months occurred in a small subset of patients, with relapsers and non-relapsers showing no significant differences in gut microbiota alpha or beta diversity.

• Of 66 SUDD patients, 5 (approximately 7.6%) experienced SUDD recurrence within 6 months of diagnosis.
• Relapsers and non-relapsers did not differ in GM alpha and beta diversity, either between each other or compared to asymptomatic diverticulosis (AD) controls.
• Patients with asymptomatic diverticulosis (AD) served as controls for comparison.
• GM was profiled using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing.

Several microbial taxa were enriched in SUDD relapsers compared to non-relapsers at the taxonomic level.

• The phylum Verrucomicrobiota, the family Erysipelotrichaceae, and the genera Prevotellaceae NK3B31 group, Roseburia, and Holdemanella were enriched in SUDD relapsers (p<0.05).
• These taxa have been previously implicated in pro-inflammatory activity and severe SUDD or other gut disturbances.
• Differences were detected despite the absence of overall alpha and beta diversity differences between groups.

Ruminococcaceae and Sutterella were enriched in SUDD non-relapsers.

• Ruminococcaceae and Sutterella were significantly enriched in patients who did not experience SUDD recurrence within 6 months (p<0.05).
• This enrichment contrasted with the pro-inflammatory taxa found in relapsers, suggesting a potentially protective microbial profile in non-relapsers.

The study design was retrospective, using previously collected GM data from SUDD patients.

• GM data were retrospectively available for the 66 SUDD patients analyzed.
• The study compared relapsers (n=5) and non-relapsers within the SUDD cohort, as well as patients with asymptomatic diverticulosis (AD) as controls.
• The short-term recurrence window was defined as 6 months from diagnosis.
• The authors note that larger and longer cohort studies are warranted to further investigate these findings.

The authors propose that gut microbiota composition may have a predictive role in short-term recurrence of symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease.

• The association between recurrent SUDD and pro-inflammatory taxa supports a potential predictive role for GM profiling.
• The authors suggest these findings could inform 'precise intervention strategies' for SUDD management.
• The small number of relapsers (n=5) is acknowledged as a limitation, with calls for larger cohort studies.