The effects of psyllium husk on gut microbiota composition and function in chronically constipated women of reproductive age using 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis

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Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by KateRasheed on 2025-6-17
Citation
PMID PubMed identifier for scientific articles.
DOI Digital object identifier for electronic documents.
URI
Authors
Yang C, Liu S, Li H, Bai X, Shan S, Gao P, Dong X
Journal
Aging
Year
2021
Keywords:
16S rRNA gene sequencing, chronic constipation, gut microbiota, metabolism, women of reproductive age
Chronic constipation is a common gastrointestinal disorder that occurs in the elderly and in women. Psyllium husk is widely used to treat this condition. Recent studies have shown that psyllium husk can improve the clinical symptoms of constipation by regulating gut microbiota, but its clinical effects and potential mechanisms in constipated women of reproductive age have not been previously investigated. We compared fecal microbiota after treatment with placebo (n = 29) and psyllium husk (n = 25) using 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) gene sequencing analysis. Psyllium husk relieved the symptoms of constipated women of reproductive age. Sequencing results showed that the psyllium husk group exhibited a different gut microbiota composition compared to that of the placebo group. Moreover, network analysis indicated more significant correlations and clustering of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in the psyllium husk group. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) annotation analysis showed that the relative abundances of metabolism-related KEGG pathways were enriched in the psyllium husk group. In conclusion, these findings suggest that the composition of gut microbiota was altered and that symptoms of constipation were alleviated via psyllium husk intervention. The changes in metabolic function might be related to constipation. Furthermore, these studies are warranted to elucidate the potential metabolic mechanisms contributing to chronic constipation.

Experiment 1


Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by KateRasheed on 2025-6-17

Curated date: 2025/03/22

Curator: Vanisha1606

Revision editor(s): Vanisha1606, MyleeeA

Subjects

Location of subjects
China
Host species Species from which microbiome was sampled. Contact us to have more species added.
Homo sapiens
Body site Anatomical site where microbial samples were extracted from according to the Uber Anatomy Ontology
Feces Cow dung,Cow pat,Droppings,Dung,Excrement,Excreta,Faeces,Fecal material,Fecal matter,Fewmet,Frass,Guano,Matières fécales@fr,Merde@fr,Ordure,Partie de la merde@fr,Piece of shit,Porción de mierda@es,Portion of dung,Portion of excrement,Portion of faeces,Portion of fecal material,Portion of fecal matter,Portion of feces,Portion of guano,Portion of scat,Portionem cacas,Scat,Spoor,Spraint,Stool,Teil der fäkalien@de,Feces,feces
Condition The experimental condition / phenotype studied according to the Experimental Factor Ontology
Chronic constipation Chronic constipation,Infrequent bowel movements,chronic constipation
Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies
Placebo group
Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies
Psyllium husk group
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group
Women of reproductive age (15–49 years) with chronic constipation who received psyllium husk intervention
Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group
29
Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group
25
Antibiotics exclusion Number of days without antibiotics usage (if applicable) and other antibiotics-related criteria used to exclude participants (if any)
1 month

Lab analysis

Sequencing type
16S
16S variable region One or more hypervariable region(s) of the bacterial 16S gene
V3-V4
Sequencing platform Manufacturer and experimental platform used for quantifying microbial abundance
Illumina

Statistical Analysis

Data transformation Data transformation applied to microbial abundance measurements prior to differential abundance testing (if any).
relative abundances
Statistical test
LEfSe
Significance threshold p-value or FDR threshold used for differential abundance testing (if any)
0.05
MHT correction Have statistical tests be corrected for multiple hypothesis testing (MHT)?
No
LDA Score above Threshold for the linear discriminant analysis (LDA) score for studies using the popular LEfSe tool
4
Matched on Factors on which subjects have been matched on in a case-control study
age, body mass index, Matched on: "hard stool" is not in the list (abnormal glucose tolerance, acetaldehyde, acute graft vs. host disease, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, adenoma, age, AIDS, alcohol consumption measurement, alcohol drinking, ...) of allowed values.hard stool, Matched on: "incomplete defecation" is not in the list (abnormal glucose tolerance, acetaldehyde, acute graft vs. host disease, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, adenoma, age, AIDS, alcohol consumption measurement, alcohol drinking, ...) of allowed values.incomplete defecation, Matched on: "digital maneuvering" is not in the list (abnormal glucose tolerance, acetaldehyde, acute graft vs. host disease, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, adenoma, age, AIDS, alcohol consumption measurement, alcohol drinking, ...) of allowed values.digital maneuvering, Matched on: "feeling of blockage" is not in the list (abnormal glucose tolerance, acetaldehyde, acute graft vs. host disease, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, adenoma, age, AIDS, alcohol consumption measurement, alcohol drinking, ...) of allowed values.feeling of blockage, Matched on: "straining" is not in the list (abnormal glucose tolerance, acetaldehyde, acute graft vs. host disease, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, adenoma, age, AIDS, alcohol consumption measurement, alcohol drinking, ...) of allowed values.straining, Matched on: "bowel movement" is not in the list (abnormal glucose tolerance, acetaldehyde, acute graft vs. host disease, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, adenoma, age, AIDS, alcohol consumption measurement, alcohol drinking, ...) of allowed values.bowel movement, Matched on: "pain with bowel movement" is not in the list (abnormal glucose tolerance, acetaldehyde, acute graft vs. host disease, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, adenoma, age, AIDS, alcohol consumption measurement, alcohol drinking, ...) of allowed values.pain with bowel movement

Alpha Diversity

Shannon Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species richness
unchanged
Chao1 Abundance-based estimator of species richness
unchanged
Richness Number of species
unchanged

Signature 1

Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by KateRasheed on 2025-6-17

Curated date: 2025/03/25

Curator: Vanisha1606

Revision editor(s): Vanisha1606, MyleeeA

Source: Figure 4A and 4B

Description: LEfSe analysis of gut microbiota bacteria differentially abundant between Psyllium husk group and Placebo group

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Psyllium husk group

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Clostridia
Eubacteriales
Oscillospiraceae

Revision editor(s): Vanisha1606, MyleeeA

Signature 2

Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by KateRasheed on 2025-6-17

Curated date: 2025/03/25

Curator: Vanisha1606

Revision editor(s): Vanisha1606, MyleeeA

Source: Figure 4A and 4B

Description: LEfSe analysis of gut microbiota bacteria differentially abundant between Psyllium husk group and Placebo group

Abundance in Group 1: decreased abundance in Psyllium husk group

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Enterobacterales
Enterobacteriaceae
Phocaeicola vulgatus

Revision editor(s): Vanisha1606, MyleeeA