Symptom relief after fecal microbiota transplantation and a low FODMAP diet in patients with IBS: how does diet make a difference?

How do specific dietary components influence treatment outcomes in patients with disturbances of the brain-gut axis? In this project, we aim to investigate how subgroups of ingestible carbohydrates contribute to microbiota-induced symptom relief in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Herein, we have designed a novel, multifaceted PhD-project combining two larger, ongoing clinical trials for IBS: 1) A double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter, phase III trial (n=450) and 2) a prospective, longitudinal case-report study (n=140). Through multimodal integration of symptom scores, dietary records, state-of-the-art sequencing techniques of bacterial metabolic function, and advanced computational machine-learning techniques we will provide individual microbiota-based stratification of patients and clinically meaningful nutritional and microbial biomarkers important for enhanced treatment response in patients with IBS treated with fecal microbiota transplantation or dietary intervention.