GI Health and the Gut Microbiome: How the new Jona platform analyzes GI Health

GI health is incredibly complex and includes the effective digestion and absorption of nutrients, maintaining energy levels and supporting a variety of other bodily functions. The health of your GI tract not only influences GI related symptoms like constipation and bloating, but also affects other areas of health including immunity, mood, skin health and much more. Often, issues created by poor GI health are related to the ecosystem of microbes living in your gut, called the microbiome.

The gut microbiome plays a critical role in the proper functioning of the gut. The trillions of organisms living inside us consume the same food that we do, producing important compounds (metabolites) in the process. Often, these organisms are able to break down elements of our food that our bodies are unable to break down on our own.  For example, several organisms help us to break down complex carbohydrates like resistant starch and this process produces many different compounds. One important class of compounds are called short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), that have been shown to regulate inflammatory responses throughout the body. An example organism that produces SCFAs (in particular, butyrate) is Faecalibacterium prausnitzii. Lower levels of organisms like this have been linked in many studies to disease. F. Prausnitzii in particular has been found to be decreased in inflammatory bowel conditions such as Crohn’s Disease. It is these studies of key relationships between microbes and disease that allows Jona to assess your health through the lens of the microbiome.

GI health is one of the most important areas that Jona evaluates by analyzing your gut microbiome. After receiving your sample and performing deep shotgun metagenomic sequencing, our AI technology matches the patterns in your personal microbiome to every peer-reviewed scientific study that was ever published connecting the gut microbiome to health. Specifically, here are some examples of GI health conditions that have been linked to specific microbiome patterns in published studies that Jona is looking for:

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) refers to two main conditions: ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. While they are clinically very different, these conditions often show similarities when it comes to the microbiome profile of those affected by the conditions. IBD and the gut microbiome have been studied extensively in the literature. Individuals in flares of these conditions often show decreased fecal levels of anti inflammatory compounds such as butyrate and propionate, which are directly related to decreased levels of SCFA producing bacteria found in the healthy gut microbiome.

Gut motility issues like constipation and diarrhea have been studied heavily in connection with the microbiome. It has been found that methane-producing microbes, also called methanogens, are often increased in individuals experiencing constipation. Similarly, individuals affected by diarrhea have been found to have increased levels of hydrogen sulfide producing microbes. Diarrhea has also been linked to many pathogenic infections that can be found in the microbiome (see below).

Increased intestinal permeability refers to the disruption of the gut barrier, also referred to as leaky gut syndrome. Leaky gut means that materials such as endotoxins or microbiome metabolites which are meant to stay within the intestine are able to pass into the rest of the body which can have a profoundly negative impact on your health. Once again, SCFA producing microbes are also important since SCFAs protect the integrity of the gut barrier. Depleted levels of these protective microbes can contribute to increased permeability of the gut.

Some studies have found that individuals experiencing reflux related issues such as Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) have a unique gut microbiome signature that may be observed from stool samples. Some of the key microbes observed to change in GERD patients may have metabolic capabilities contributing to or exacerbating GERD symptoms. Examples include the production of hydrogen sulfide by the organism Desulfuromonadaceae and the involvement in bile acid metabolism by the organism Acidaminococcaceae, which are both found to be increased in the gut of individuals experiencing GERD.

Another critical part of your gut health and microbiome balance is ensuring there are no organisms causing pathogenic infections in your gut. Common bacteria that can cause infection in your gut include certain strains of Escherichia Coli, Clostridioides difficile (formerly Clostridium difficile), and Helicobacter pylori. Jona examines all the organisms present in your gut and flags over 50 different potential pathogens. It is important to note that many of these organisms can exist in your gut without causing any issues at all (called colonization). While it is good to be aware of which potentially pathogenic organisms have colonized your gut, there is no need for alarm at a detected pathogen if you are not experiencing any symptoms of infection. Be sure to discuss with your doctor about any concerns you have around pathogens in your sample.