ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Intestinal Microbiome
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1657501
Comparison with healthy controls: Meta-analysis of changes in intestinal flora in Chinese patients with irritable bowel syndrome
Provisionally accepted
- 1First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning, China
- 2GuangXi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning, China
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Background: The gut microbiota characteristics in Chinese irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients and their disease relevance remain unclear. Geographic variations may contribute to unique microbial patterns, which could aid in diagnosis or therapy. Aim: To compare gut microbiota differences between Chinese IBS patients and healthy controls (HC). Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, we searched PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and CNKI up to May 2025. Case-control studies using Rome criteria for IBS and including Chinese participants were selected. Quality was assessed with the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Data were pooled using RevMan 5.4. Results: This meta-analysis (12 studies, 766 IBS, 351 HC) showed significantly higher Enterobacter (SMD=1.55, P<0.00001) and Enterococcus (SMD=0.69, P=0.002), and lower Lactobacillus (SMD=-1.30, P<0.00001) and Bifidobacterium (SMD=-1.56, P<0.00001) in IBS versus HC. Bacteroides was reduced only in diarrhea‐predominant IBS (IBS-D). Constipation‐predominant IBS (IBS-C) showed no significant differences. Conclusion: Chinese IBS patients exhibit distinct gut microbiota imbalances—elevated Enterobacter and Enterococcus, decreased Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, and reduced Bacteroides specifically in IBS-D. These findings support region-specific microbial signatures for precise diagnosis and treatment.
Keywords: irritable bowel syndrome1, intestinal flora2, Gut Microbiota3, Chinese4, China5, Meta – Analysis6
Received: 01 Jul 2025; Accepted: 12 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Tu, Xu, Wei, Kong and Cai. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Lun Cai, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning, China
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