The Role That Food and Bacteria Play in Generating Abdominal Pain

July 13, 2026 updated by: David Reed

The Role of Gut Microbiota in Patient Responses to a Dietary Therapy for Abdominal Pain

Irritable Bowel Syndrom (IBS) affects up to five percent of Canadians and has proven difficult to treat. Our research will explore how a type of dietary carbohydrate, called FODMAPS, contributes to chronic abdominal pain in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). FODMAPs, are poorly digested carbohydrates and removing FODMAPs from the diet relieves abdominal pain in approximately half of IBS patients. Unfortunately, FODMAPs are contained in many foods, which makes it challenging for patients to remain on a low FODMAP diet for extended periods. Our proposed research will identify which subtypes of FODMAPs are most responsible for increasing pain and will tease apart whether the pain-causing effects of FODMAPs rely on the gut microbiota or not. To identify which specific type of FODMAP causes pain, IBS patients will adopt a low FODMAP diet and then individual FODMAP subtypes will be added back to their diet while monitoring changes to their pain. Stool samples will be collected from the participants to determine whether the composition of the gut microbiota or the chemicals that it produces are changed when symptoms are improved or exacerbated by manipulating FODMAP availability. In parallel studies, the microbiota of each IBS patient will be grown in specialized conditions to mimic the environment of the gut. These patient microbial communities will be exposed to the same FODMAP manipulations as the patients themselves experience. This will allow us to test whether the changes in gut microbiota composition and the chemicals produced that occur in IBS patients in response to FODMAP manipulations also occur when only the microbiota is exposed to these manipulations. Together, these studies will aim to optimize a dietary therapy for a common chronic pain condition and will provide novel insights into how diet affects the chemicals the gut microbiota produces that contribute to abdominal pain.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
60

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults aged 18-70 with IBS (Rome IV (now V) criteria)
  • PROMIS belly pain score >12

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Concurrent significant organic GI pathology (i.e. celiac, IBD, etc.) as some symptoms may be related to their disease and not IBS.
  2. Concurrent systemic disease and/or laboratory abnormalities considered by investigators to be risky or that could interfere with data collection.
  3. Major gastrointestinal surgery (e.g. Roux en y, bowel resection) as symptoms may be related to previous surgery rather than IBS.
  4. Body mass index above 35 kg/m2 as it is unknown how mediators in the GI tract that may be involved in pain signaling in the gut are affected by obesity.
  5. History of active cancer in the last 5 years, other than basal cell cancer as the treatment may have impacted the GI tract.
  6. Pregnant or breastfeeding women.
  7. Active or recent participation (< 1 month) in a clinical study.
  8. Use of antibiotics, probiotics, during, or one month prior to the study as may affect gut microbiota.
  9. Use of new medications less than 4 weeks prior to the study as may alter gut microbiota and/or IBS symptoms.
  10. Allergies to any of the ingredients used in the study.
  11. Any immune-compromising conditions as may affect GI symptoms.
  12. Currently being treated for eating disorder, schizophrenia, psychosis or other acute mental disorders as participating in a diet challenge study may have negative impact on these disorders.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: FODMAP Challenge
Participants will be on a low fodmap diet (LFD) for a total of 6 weeks. After two weeks on LFD, each participant whose IBS-symptom severity score was reduced by 50 points will be deemed a responder, and will proceed to the next stage of the study. This will entail each participant remaining on the LFD while beginning 4 four-day individual challenges every 7 days consisting of 3 FODMAP subgroup challenges (galacto-oligosaccahride, fructan, and sorbitol) and 1 glucose challenge as a non-FODMAP carbohydrate control. Each challenge will comprise of a 4-day challenge with one of the three FODMAP subgroups or a glucose challenge (as a negative control) followed by a 3-day washout period with any residual symptoms resolved while remaining on the LFD prior to the next challenge.
Other: FODMAP Challenge
Prior to beginning the LFD, each participant will provide a stool sample. This will be used to inoculate a continuous culture system (chemostat) as these vessels maintain fecal microbial communities under controlled anaerobic conditions. After reaching steady state in culture media with FODMAPs (7 days), the media will be switched to a low FODMAP media for 7 days. Then each vessel will be exposed to the same FODMAP subgroups challenges and glucose challenge as the participants for 3 days. At each stage (i.e., steady state, after low fodmap media, after each challenge) culture supernatant will be collected. This supernatant will be used to test its neurophysiological effects on pain sensing neurons in pre-clinical studies. In addition, participants will provide a stool sample at each stage. Fecal supernatants will be produced from these samples and the neurophysiological effects of the fecal supernatants will be tested in pre-clinical studies.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Dorsal Root Ganglion (DRG) neuron rheobase by chemostat supernatant
Time Frame: 2-3 week of recording for each supernatant condition.
DRG neurons will be incubated overnight with chemostat supernatant after steady state, low fodmap media, fodmap subtype media and glucose media. Patch clamp recordings will be made from neurons the following day the rheobase (minimum current required to elicit an action potential in a neuron) will be measured. The mean rheobase for neurons exposed to the different supernatant conditions will be compared.
2-3 week of recording for each supernatant condition.
Change in Dorsal Root Ganglion (DRG) neuron rheobase by fecal supernatant
Time Frame: 2-3 weeks for each supernatant condition
DRG neurons will be incubated overnight with fecal supernatant at baseline, after low fodmap diet, fodmap subtype challenge and glucose challenge. Patch clamp recordings will be made from neurons the following day the rheobase (minimum current required to elicit an action potential in a neuron) will be measured. The mean rheobase for neurons exposed to the different supernatant conditions will be compared.
2-3 weeks for each supernatant condition

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Microbial community composition
Time Frame: 6 weeks
The chemostat cultures will be sampled after each stage (steady state, low fodmap media, fodmap subtype medias, glucose media) and analyzed
6 weeks
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Symptom Severity Score
Time Frame: 6 weeks
IBS Symptom Severity Score (a score of 0 to 500, with higher scores indicating greater symptom severity) will be taken at baseline, after low fodmap diet, each fodmap subtype challenge and glucose challenge. Change in IBS Symptom Severity Score as well as number of participants with a change of at least 50 points will be analyzed.
6 weeks
Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Belly Pain Score
Time Frame: 6 weeks
These questionnaires will be administered at baseline, after low fodmap diet, each fodmap subtype challenge and glucose challenge. The scores at each time point will be compared. The raw scores are 2-25 and this is converted to a standardized T score. Higher scores indicate a higher pain score.
6 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
David Reed

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Weston Family Foundation

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
March 16, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
March 1, 2030

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
March 1, 2031

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
June 30, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
June 30, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
July 7, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
July 15, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 13, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 6044324

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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