Unraveling a Potential Connection Between Bilirubin Metabolism, Gut Microbiota and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Recent studies have shown that certain CD patients harbor microbial communities that are distinct from those of healthy individuals. These studies suggest a central role of the gut microbial population in CD. The high complexity of the gut microbiome, which is the most densely populated bacterial niche, makes the identification of these bacteria a significant challenge. The bacterial population is comprised from 1013 - 1014 individuals, all belonging roughly to a thousand different species, mostly anaerobic, and most of them (roughly 70% - 80%) are uncultivable.

The goals of this project are to examine a potential link between bilirubin metabolism and IBD, by comparing fecal extracts from healthy humans and IBD patients, and to investigate the underlying mechanism explaining these differences.