Activity of essential oils and hydrolates on both microbial strains isolated from patients with IBS and probiotics. In vitro study

The Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a gastrointestinal disorder associated with abdominal pain, change in bowel habitat, recurrent/remitting behaviour. Like IBD, this syndrome is associated with: altered gut-brain axis, abnormal microbiota and persistent alteration of the immune system. Recent studies show that patients with IBD have a microbiota different from that of healthy subjects with the greater presence of some microbial species rather than others. In particular, Sokol et al (2016) showed that in patients with IBD some fungal species (Ascomycetes, especially Saccharomyces cerevisiae) decrease in percentage compared to healthy subjects, while others increase (Basidiomycetes, particularly Mallasezia sympodialis). Furthermore, in the sick subjects, the species of genus Candida increase in as a percentage even if they do not cause infectious diseases. Our preliminary data show that faecal samples from patients with IBS are characterized by fungal strains belonging to the genus Candida. These are more active than the same strains found in healthy subjects, while not causing infectious diseases.