Skip to content

Effects of Low FODMAP Diet on Colonic Epithelial Physiology in Diarrhea-predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Effects of Low FODMAP Diet on Colonic Epithelial Physiology in Diarrhea-predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04542018
Enrollment
48
Registered
2020-09-09
Start date
2020-08-03
Completion date
2024-05-15
Last updated
2025-07-30

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Brief summary

This research is studying whether changing an individual's diet may have an impact as a treatment or outcome for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). This research will show if diet might play a role in triggering changes that may cause IBS. This study is being done to learn if a low FODMAP (fermentable, oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols) diet causes changes in the colon lining which mediates improvement in IBS symptoms.

Interventions

OTHERa low FODMAP diet for 4 weeks

low FODMAP diet for 4 weeks

Sponsors

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
CollaboratorNIH
University of Michigan
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE

Intervention model description

Patients with diarrhea predominant IBS (IBS-D) will undergo 4 weeks of low FODMAP diet. Urine, blood, stool, and colon biopsies will be collected before and after the diet to assess changes in gut physiology.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Normal serum studies including serum tissue-transglutaminase antibodies, thyroid stimulating hormone levels, C-reactive protein or fecal calprotectin, complete blood count since the onset of symptoms. * Normal stool studies including, ova and parasites since the onset of symptoms * IBS-SSS score of ≥175 at the end of the 7-day screening period In case of presence of any alarm features and/or elevated inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein or fecal calprotectin), patients will be eligible if they have been excluded for inflammatory bowel disease with colonoscopy in the last one year.

Exclusion criteria

* individuals already on a LFD or other dietary restriction such as gluten free diet within the past 6 months * individuals with any known food allergy or insulin-dependent diabetes * known history of celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease or microscopic colitis * prior small bowel or colonic surgery or cholecystectomy * pregnant patients * Antibiotics in the past 3 months * Those who regularly use mast cell stabilizers or anti-histaminic or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDs) excluding daily baby aspirin or steroids or bile-acid binder.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Lactulose Mannitol Excretion4 weeksChanges in cumulative excretion of lactulose and mannitol in timed urine collection before and after low FODMAP diet measured during 8-24h

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Changes in Epithelial Permeability - Tight Junction Gene Expression4 weeksChanges in tight junction (TJ) gene expression in colonic biopsies before and after low FODMAP diet Gene expression of Tight junction proteins were normalized to that of Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH).
Changes in Epithelial Permeability - Quantitative Tight Junction Immunostaining4 weeksChanges in Quantitative tight junction immunostaining of tight junctions in colonic biopsies before and after low FODMAP diet Data is reported as ratio of TJ proteins to NA-K ATPase.
Changes in Stool Microbiome - Alpha Diversity4 weeksChanges in relative abundance of bacteria before and after low FODMAP diet. Alpha diversity was measured as number of Amplicon Sequence Variant (ASV) measured in the specimen.
Immunohistochemistry for Mast Cells4 weeksNumber of mast cells in sample after immunohistochemistry were counted.
Gastrointestinal Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)4 weeksPROMIS scales of Belly pain (5a) and diarrhea (6a) will be administered to assess the severity of belly pain and diarrhea in our patients. PROMIS Belly pain questionnaire and PROMIS diarrhea questionnaire have five and six questions, respectively, which assess symptom severity on a 5 point Likert scale. 50 indicates the general population mean with a standard deviation of 10. Higher T-scores on these questionnaires refer to more severe gastrointestinal symptoms. PROMIS belly pain asks how often did you have belly pain, severity of belly pain, interference with activities, bothersomeness and discomfort. PROMIS diarrhea asks how many days did you have loose stools, interference with activities, bothersomeness, and how often you experience urgency.
Changes in Stool Microbiome - Beta Diversity4 weeksChanges in relative abundance of bacteria before and after low FODMAP diet. For the beta diversity, an analysis of similarities (ANOSIM)test based on Bray-Curtis distances is the best measure if the communities were different. The ANOSIM R statistic gives the scale of difference. ANOSIM R ranges from -1 to 1, where 1 means there is most interparticipant similarity within the group compared with between the different groups, and where -1 means there is least interparticipant similarity within the group compared with between the different groups. A value close to 0 indicates no significant difference between groups, meaning the dissimilarity is similar both within and between groups

Other

MeasureTime frameDescription
Irritable Bowel Syndrome Severity Scoring System (IBS-SSS) - 4-Week4 weeksMeasure Description: IBS-SSS is a scale for assessing overall IBS symptom severity. It includes 5 questions concerning symptoms over the past 10 days: average severity of abdominal pain, # of days with abdominal pain, average severity of abdominal distension or bloating, satisfaction with bowel habits, and the overall interference in their quality of life from these symptoms. Questions are scored on a 0-100 scale and are summed to a total score between 0-500. Lower scores indicate lower symptom severity. Participants were separated into arms based on the change in their responses from baseline to 4 weeks.

Countries

United States

Participant flow

Pre-assignment details

All participants began the same 4-week Low FODMAP diet treatment. Once participants completed the 4-week intervention, they were categorized based on the changes in their IBSSS survey responses. Data was analyzed for each group separately. Participants who did not submit their IBSSS surveys after 4-weeks of treatment could not be placed in either group, submitted no data, and are not considered to have completed the trial.

Participants by arm

ArmCount
Responders
Patients with diarrhea-predominant IBS who will undergo a low FODMAP diet for 4 weeks a low FODMAP diet for 4 weeks: low FODMAP diet for 4 weeks Participants in this arm reported a change in IBS-SSS score between the baseline survey and the survey after 4 weeks of following the Low FODMAP diet of at least 100 points.
34
Non-Responders
Patients with diarrhea-predominant IBS who will undergo a low FODMAP diet for 4 weeks a low FODMAP diet for 4 weeks: low FODMAP diet for 4 weeks Participants in this arm reported a change in IBS-SSS score between the baseline survey and the survey after 4 weeks of following the Low FODMAP diet of less-than 100 points.
8
Intervention Recipients Who Did Not Complete the Trial
These participants began the 4 week Low FODMAP diet treatment, but did not complete the treatment or report data to study team. They were, therefore, not categorized into responders or non-responders.
6
Total48

Withdrawals & dropouts

PeriodReasonFG000FG001FG002
Overall StudyProtocol Violation002
Overall StudyWithdrawal by Subject004

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicTotalRespondersNon-RespondersIntervention Recipients Who Did Not Complete the Trial
Age, Continuous38.6 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 11.5
38.3 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 11.2
44.6 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 11.8
32.2 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 10.3
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Hispanic or Latino
2 Participants2 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Not Hispanic or Latino
46 Participants32 Participants8 Participants6 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Irritable Bowel Syndrome Severity Scoring System (IBS-SSS)317.4 score on a scale
STANDARD_DEVIATION 86.2
334.2 score on a scale
STANDARD_DEVIATION 81.36
254.5 score on a scale
STANDARD_DEVIATION 65.52
303.6 score on a scale
STANDARD_DEVIATION 113.1
Race (NIH/OMB)
American Indian or Alaska Native
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Asian
3 Participants2 Participants0 Participants1 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Black or African American
6 Participants4 Participants0 Participants2 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
More than one race
3 Participants3 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
1 Participants1 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
White
35 Participants24 Participants8 Participants3 Participants
Region of Enrollment
United States
48 Participants34 Participants8 Participants6 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
35 Participants23 Participants8 Participants4 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
13 Participants11 Participants0 Participants2 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
EG001
affected / at risk
EG002
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
0 / 340 / 80 / 6
other
Total, other adverse events
2 / 340 / 80 / 6
serious
Total, serious adverse events
0 / 340 / 80 / 6

Outcome results

Primary

Lactulose Mannitol Excretion

Changes in cumulative excretion of lactulose and mannitol in timed urine collection before and after low FODMAP diet measured during 8-24h

Time frame: 4 weeks

Population: No data was collected from Intervention Recipients Who Did Not Complete The Trial arm

ArmMeasureGroupValue (MEDIAN)
RespondersLactulose Mannitol ExcretionBaseline - Lactulose Excretion512.5 micrograms per ml
RespondersLactulose Mannitol ExcretionBaseline - Mannitol Excretion41395 micrograms per ml
RespondersLactulose Mannitol Excretion4-Week - Mannitol Excretion37030 micrograms per ml
RespondersLactulose Mannitol Excretion4-Week - Lactulose Excretion456.8 micrograms per ml
Non-RespondersLactulose Mannitol Excretion4-Week - Mannitol Excretion54825 micrograms per ml
Non-RespondersLactulose Mannitol ExcretionBaseline - Lactulose Excretion394.5 micrograms per ml
Non-RespondersLactulose Mannitol Excretion4-Week - Lactulose Excretion411 micrograms per ml
Non-RespondersLactulose Mannitol ExcretionBaseline - Mannitol Excretion86820 micrograms per ml
Secondary

Changes in Epithelial Permeability - Quantitative Tight Junction Immunostaining

Changes in Quantitative tight junction immunostaining of tight junctions in colonic biopsies before and after low FODMAP diet Data is reported as ratio of TJ proteins to NA-K ATPase.

Time frame: 4 weeks

Population: No data was analyzed for the Intervention Recipients Who Did Not Complete The Trial arm because those participants did not submit second sample.

ArmMeasureGroupValue (MEDIAN)
RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Quantitative Tight Junction ImmunostainingBaseline - ZO-10.06579 ratio of TJ proteins to NA-K ATPase
RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Quantitative Tight Junction ImmunostainingBaseline - Occludin2.623 ratio of TJ proteins to NA-K ATPase
RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Quantitative Tight Junction ImmunostainingBaseline - JAM-A0.07493 ratio of TJ proteins to NA-K ATPase
RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Quantitative Tight Junction Immunostaining4-week - Occludin5.529 ratio of TJ proteins to NA-K ATPase
RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Quantitative Tight Junction ImmunostainingBaseline - Claudin-16.542 ratio of TJ proteins to NA-K ATPase
RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Quantitative Tight Junction Immunostaining4-week - ZO-10.07330 ratio of TJ proteins to NA-K ATPase
RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Quantitative Tight Junction Immunostaining4-week - Claudin-111.22 ratio of TJ proteins to NA-K ATPase
RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Quantitative Tight Junction Immunostaining4-week - JAM-A0.09149 ratio of TJ proteins to NA-K ATPase
Non-RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Quantitative Tight Junction Immunostaining4-week - Claudin-19.218 ratio of TJ proteins to NA-K ATPase
Non-RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Quantitative Tight Junction ImmunostainingBaseline - ZO-10.03703 ratio of TJ proteins to NA-K ATPase
Non-RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Quantitative Tight Junction Immunostaining4-week - ZO-10.05063 ratio of TJ proteins to NA-K ATPase
Non-RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Quantitative Tight Junction ImmunostainingBaseline - JAM-A0.08437 ratio of TJ proteins to NA-K ATPase
Non-RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Quantitative Tight Junction Immunostaining4-week - JAM-A0.07267 ratio of TJ proteins to NA-K ATPase
Non-RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Quantitative Tight Junction ImmunostainingBaseline - Occludin3.834 ratio of TJ proteins to NA-K ATPase
Non-RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Quantitative Tight Junction ImmunostainingBaseline - Claudin-110.40 ratio of TJ proteins to NA-K ATPase
Non-RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Quantitative Tight Junction Immunostaining4-week - Occludin5.533 ratio of TJ proteins to NA-K ATPase
Secondary

Changes in Epithelial Permeability - Tight Junction Gene Expression

Changes in tight junction (TJ) gene expression in colonic biopsies before and after low FODMAP diet Gene expression of Tight junction proteins were normalized to that of Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH).

Time frame: 4 weeks

Population: No data was analyzed for the Intervention Recipients Who Did Not Complete The Trial arm because those participants did not submit second sample.

ArmMeasureGroupValue (MEDIAN)
RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Tight Junction Gene ExpressionBaseline - ZO-1.9 ratio of TJ proteins to GAPDH
RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Tight Junction Gene Expression4-week - ZO-11.4 ratio of TJ proteins to GAPDH
RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Tight Junction Gene ExpressionBaseline - JAM-A0.9 ratio of TJ proteins to GAPDH
RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Tight Junction Gene Expression4-week - JAM-A2 ratio of TJ proteins to GAPDH
RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Tight Junction Gene ExpressionBaseline - Occludin0.9 ratio of TJ proteins to GAPDH
RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Tight Junction Gene Expression4-week - Occludin1.3 ratio of TJ proteins to GAPDH
RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Tight Junction Gene ExpressionBaseline - Claudin-10.6 ratio of TJ proteins to GAPDH
RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Tight Junction Gene Expression4-week - Claudin-11.1 ratio of TJ proteins to GAPDH
Non-RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Tight Junction Gene Expression4-week - Claudin-10.9 ratio of TJ proteins to GAPDH
Non-RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Tight Junction Gene ExpressionBaseline - ZO-1.7 ratio of TJ proteins to GAPDH
Non-RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Tight Junction Gene ExpressionBaseline - Occludin0.6 ratio of TJ proteins to GAPDH
Non-RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Tight Junction Gene Expression4-week - ZO-11.1 ratio of TJ proteins to GAPDH
Non-RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Tight Junction Gene ExpressionBaseline - Claudin-10.5 ratio of TJ proteins to GAPDH
Non-RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Tight Junction Gene ExpressionBaseline - JAM-A0.5 ratio of TJ proteins to GAPDH
Non-RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Tight Junction Gene Expression4-week - Occludin0.8 ratio of TJ proteins to GAPDH
Non-RespondersChanges in Epithelial Permeability - Tight Junction Gene Expression4-week - JAM-A1.3 ratio of TJ proteins to GAPDH
Secondary

Changes in Stool Microbiome - Alpha Diversity

Changes in relative abundance of bacteria before and after low FODMAP diet. Alpha diversity was measured as number of Amplicon Sequence Variant (ASV) measured in the specimen.

Time frame: 4 weeks

Population: No data was analyzed for the Intervention Recipients Who Did Not Complete the Trial arm because participants did not submit necessary samples for analysis.

ArmMeasureGroupValue (MEAN)Dispersion
RespondersChanges in Stool Microbiome - Alpha DiversityBaseline - Alpha Diversity649.087 ASVs ObservedStandard Deviation 160.1794
RespondersChanges in Stool Microbiome - Alpha Diversity4-week - Alpha Diversity599.7391 ASVs ObservedStandard Deviation 159.1749
Non-RespondersChanges in Stool Microbiome - Alpha DiversityBaseline - Alpha Diversity532.75 ASVs ObservedStandard Deviation 153.69
Non-RespondersChanges in Stool Microbiome - Alpha Diversity4-week - Alpha Diversity608.5 ASVs ObservedStandard Deviation 182.12
Secondary

Changes in Stool Microbiome - Beta Diversity

Changes in relative abundance of bacteria before and after low FODMAP diet. For the beta diversity, an analysis of similarities (ANOSIM)test based on Bray-Curtis distances is the best measure if the communities were different. The ANOSIM R statistic gives the scale of difference. ANOSIM R ranges from -1 to 1, where 1 means there is most interparticipant similarity within the group compared with between the different groups, and where -1 means there is least interparticipant similarity within the group compared with between the different groups. A value close to 0 indicates no significant difference between groups, meaning the dissimilarity is similar both within and between groups

Time frame: 4 weeks

Population: No data was analyzed for the Intervention Recipients Who Did Not Complete the Trial arm because participants did not submit necessary samples for analysis.~Some participants in both analyzed arms did not provide samples of sufficient quality for analysis.

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
RespondersChanges in Stool Microbiome - Beta Diversity-0.03722 units on a scale
Non-RespondersChanges in Stool Microbiome - Beta Diversity-0.2708 units on a scale
Secondary

Gastrointestinal Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)

PROMIS scales of Belly pain (5a) and diarrhea (6a) will be administered to assess the severity of belly pain and diarrhea in our patients. PROMIS Belly pain questionnaire and PROMIS diarrhea questionnaire have five and six questions, respectively, which assess symptom severity on a 5 point Likert scale. 50 indicates the general population mean with a standard deviation of 10. Higher T-scores on these questionnaires refer to more severe gastrointestinal symptoms. PROMIS belly pain asks how often did you have belly pain, severity of belly pain, interference with activities, bothersomeness and discomfort. PROMIS diarrhea asks how many days did you have loose stools, interference with activities, bothersomeness, and how often you experience urgency.

Time frame: 4 weeks

Population: Participants in the Intervention Recipients who did not Complete the Trial arm did not submit surveys at the 4-week point.

ArmMeasureGroupValue (MEAN)Dispersion
RespondersGastrointestinal Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)Baseline - Belly Pain63.6 T-scoreStandard Deviation 6.2
RespondersGastrointestinal Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)4-week - Belly Pain47.1 T-scoreStandard Deviation 9.4
RespondersGastrointestinal Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)Baseline - Diarrhea61.2 T-scoreStandard Deviation 10.8
RespondersGastrointestinal Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)4-week - Diarrhea55.8 T-scoreStandard Deviation 8.3
Non-RespondersGastrointestinal Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)Baseline - Belly Pain64.1 T-scoreStandard Deviation 5.1
Non-RespondersGastrointestinal Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)4-week - Diarrhea55.6 T-scoreStandard Deviation 8.4
Non-RespondersGastrointestinal Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)Baseline - Diarrhea49.1 T-scoreStandard Deviation 8.3
Non-RespondersGastrointestinal Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)4-week - Belly Pain60.8 T-scoreStandard Deviation 3.1
Intervention Recipients Who Did Not Complete the TrialGastrointestinal Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)Baseline - Diarrhea61.3 T-scoreStandard Deviation 5
Intervention Recipients Who Did Not Complete the TrialGastrointestinal Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)Baseline - Belly Pain63.7 T-scoreStandard Deviation 6.4
Intervention Recipients Who Did Not Complete the TrialGastrointestinal Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)4-week - Diarrhea0 T-scoreStandard Deviation 0
Secondary

Immunohistochemistry for Mast Cells

Number of mast cells in sample after immunohistochemistry were counted.

Time frame: 4 weeks

Population: No data was analyzed for Intervention Recipients Who Did Not Complete the Trial, as they did not submit necessary samples.

ArmMeasureGroupValue (MEDIAN)
RespondersImmunohistochemistry for Mast CellsBaseline - Mast Cell Count23 mast cell count per high power field
RespondersImmunohistochemistry for Mast Cells4-Week - Mast Cell Count14.5 mast cell count per high power field
Non-RespondersImmunohistochemistry for Mast CellsBaseline - Mast Cell Count26.5 mast cell count per high power field
Non-RespondersImmunohistochemistry for Mast Cells4-Week - Mast Cell Count11.5 mast cell count per high power field
Other Pre-specified

Irritable Bowel Syndrome Severity Scoring System (IBS-SSS) - 4-Week

Measure Description: IBS-SSS is a scale for assessing overall IBS symptom severity. It includes 5 questions concerning symptoms over the past 10 days: average severity of abdominal pain, # of days with abdominal pain, average severity of abdominal distension or bloating, satisfaction with bowel habits, and the overall interference in their quality of life from these symptoms. Questions are scored on a 0-100 scale and are summed to a total score between 0-500. Lower scores indicate lower symptom severity. Participants were separated into arms based on the change in their responses from baseline to 4 weeks.

Time frame: 4 weeks

Population: Because 6 participants who did not finish the trial did not provide week 4 IBS-SSS, they were sorted into the third arm and not included in this analysis.

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
RespondersIrritable Bowel Syndrome Severity Scoring System (IBS-SSS) - 4-Week87.7 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 84.8
Non-RespondersIrritable Bowel Syndrome Severity Scoring System (IBS-SSS) - 4-Week235.4 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 72.12

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026