Researchers conclude that fecal profiling of volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) may provide a low cost, non-invasive tool to predict the responses of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients to probiotics and diets low in fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols (FODMAP’s).

Modeling baseline fecal VOC’s, and using key features of VOC profiles, correctly predicted response to a low-FODMAP diet in 100% of patients and in 89% of patients receiving a probiotic, reported Megan Rossi, PhD, RD of King’s College in London, and colleagues.

Multiple randomized trials have indicated that the low-FODMAP diet is effective in 50%-80% of IBS patients. “However, predicting response is clinically important because the diet requires intensive dietary counselling and impacts on both the gut microbiota and nutrient intake, and, therefore, avoiding this intervention in the 20%-50% who are unlikely to respond would be an important clinical advance,” Rossi’s group noted.

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