Collecting blood samples would make it easier to diagnose and better target treatments for chronic diarrhea.
- Diarrhea results in the emission of soft and liquid stools.
- The analysis of blood samples would make it possible to diagnose chronic biliary diarrhea more quickly, according to Danish researchers.
- In their study, the scientists also uncovered two potential treatments for biliary diarrhea.
A person is considered to suffer from chronic diarrhea when this disorder lasts for more than a month. Different mechanisms can be at the origin of these excessively frequent liquid stools. This is particularly the case with irritable bowel syndrome or celiac disease.
Analysis of blood samples could aid in the diagnosis of chronic diarrhea
Also called biliary diarrhea, bile acid malabsorption can cause various intestinal disorders, including chronic diarrhea. This pathology is often diagnosed at a very late stage. Faced with this observation, a team led by Professor Jesper Bøje Andersen of the University of Aarhus (Denmark) recently developed a new technique to more quickly diagnose biliary diarrhea and target the best therapy to treat it.
First, the scientists examined blood samples from 50 patients. “A blood sample contains a large number of different metabolites. Currently, we are able to identify nearly 1,300 different metabolites, and a handful of these can be used to diagnose diarrhea due to bile acid. The metabolites of patients with biliary diarrhea form a particular pattern that makes them recognizable”said Professor Jesper Bøje Andersen, the lead author of the study published in the journal BMJ Journal.
Two types of treatment indicated to treat chronic diarrhea
Following the blood analysis, the researchers found that the blood samples, and therefore the patients, could be divided into two groups. “First of all, we didn’t understand why. All blood samples had been taken before treatment, usually at the time of diagnosis”said Professor Jesper Bøje Andersen.
Participants then participated in a randomized clinical study at the Clinical Metabolic Research Center of Herlev and Gentofte Hospital. During this second phase, the researchers evaluated the effects of two treatments: the first with colesevelam, which is a bile acid sequestrant, and the second based on liraglutide, which is generally prescribed to treat type 2 diabetes and overweight. severe.
According to the results, treatment with colesevelam relieved the manifestations related to biliary diarrhea in 50% of cases. As for the liraglutide treatment, almost 77% of the participants indicated that their chronic diarrhea had improved after its administration.. “What is interesting is that the metabolites present in the blood of the patients divide them into two groups: those who respond well to colesevelam and those who respond well to liraglutide. This suggests that we should be able to say which treatment is most effective by analyzing the patient’s blood at the time of diagnosis”said Professor Jesper Bøje Andersen.
