Understanding the role of gut microbiota in the development visceral hypersensitivity - A literature review
Category
Topical Literature Review
Department
Biology
Student Status
Undergraduate
Research Advisor
Dr. Anuradha Ghosh
Document Type
Event
Location
Student Center Ballroom
Start Date
10-4-2025 2:00 PM
End Date
10-4-2025 4:00 PM
Description
Persistent abdominal pain is one of the most impactful symptoms across various gastrointestinal disorders. Increased sensitivity to bowel distention, termed visceral hypersensitivity (VH), is a primary driver of chronic abdominal pain. Differences in microbial colonization are associated with disease, but how bacteria drive pain and the potential therapeutic targets remain poorly understood. This review illustrates applications of microbiome-based diagnostics referring to currently available literature and also describes the aims of the proposed research. Using metagenomic analysis, the role of microbial communities in many infectious diseases can be ascertained including response to cancer immunotherapy and transplant safety. Investigating the effects of microbiota on VH will supplement our current understanding of how these milieus change over a given treatment regime. This background knowledge leads to our first specific aim: to study how the composition of the gut microbiome evolves temporally when VH is induced in both male and female mice by sequencing the collected fecal material and comparing using 16S metagenomics. Future research may be focused on developing precise methods for manipulating the microbiome and creating targeted treatments for specific conditions. This frames our second specific aim: to study the microbiota after treatment with broad spectrum antibiotics or spermidine-supplemented diet employing molecular diagnostics such as multiplex qPCR technique to detect selected bacterial species (e.g. Bacteroides, Enterococcus, Dorea, Clostridium and/or Ruminococcus). The ultimate goal of this research project is to systematically assess the impact of altered microbial colonization on the host and examine novel therapeutic approaches to restoration/stabilization of the microbial response.
Understanding the role of gut microbiota in the development visceral hypersensitivity - A literature review
Student Center Ballroom
Persistent abdominal pain is one of the most impactful symptoms across various gastrointestinal disorders. Increased sensitivity to bowel distention, termed visceral hypersensitivity (VH), is a primary driver of chronic abdominal pain. Differences in microbial colonization are associated with disease, but how bacteria drive pain and the potential therapeutic targets remain poorly understood. This review illustrates applications of microbiome-based diagnostics referring to currently available literature and also describes the aims of the proposed research. Using metagenomic analysis, the role of microbial communities in many infectious diseases can be ascertained including response to cancer immunotherapy and transplant safety. Investigating the effects of microbiota on VH will supplement our current understanding of how these milieus change over a given treatment regime. This background knowledge leads to our first specific aim: to study how the composition of the gut microbiome evolves temporally when VH is induced in both male and female mice by sequencing the collected fecal material and comparing using 16S metagenomics. Future research may be focused on developing precise methods for manipulating the microbiome and creating targeted treatments for specific conditions. This frames our second specific aim: to study the microbiota after treatment with broad spectrum antibiotics or spermidine-supplemented diet employing molecular diagnostics such as multiplex qPCR technique to detect selected bacterial species (e.g. Bacteroides, Enterococcus, Dorea, Clostridium and/or Ruminococcus). The ultimate goal of this research project is to systematically assess the impact of altered microbial colonization on the host and examine novel therapeutic approaches to restoration/stabilization of the microbial response.
