Stool consistency should be considered during microbiome research

Stool sampling remains the most common method of measuring the microbiome of the GI tract.  Researchers are well aware of its limitations, but its ease and convenience for both scientists and donors makes it nearly irreplaceable at the moment.  The most common issue regarding stool samples that is often pointed out is that it is not representative of the GI tract, and that it only samples the lower colon and not the more proximal GI tract.  In addition, it does not account for bugs that are attached to the mucous linings of the intestine rather than those that transiently pass with our feces.  Related to this point, last week Jack Gilbert and John Alverdy, professors from the University of Chicago, published a piece in the journal Gut regarding stool microbiome sampling and stool consistency.

Professors Gilbert and Alverdy argue that stool consistency greatly affects the stool microbiome populations.  The stool consistency is normally a function of intestinal transit time, with the shorter the duration between eating and passing stool being associated with watery stool, while a longer duration is associated with a more solid stool.  They point to studies that that show different bacteria have evolved to either grow rapidly when the stool is quickly moving through the lumen, in order to proliferate with the shorter duration access to nutrients, or to grow slowly and more completely utilize the available nutrients when the stool is accessible for longer periods.  Measurements of stool consistency are hardly ever performed during normal sampling, and these same studies tend to make generalizations about different phyla, like Bacteroides and Ruminococcacea, when in fact these different can be explained by stool consistency. 

In a time where microbiome diagnostics are starting to be considered as helpful indications for varous diseases, this type of quality control needs to be established.  Stool sampling is not perfect, but it is necessary, and for that reason steps should be taken now to improve and control its usefulness, especially in a clinical setting.