Scientists: Sugar increases the risk of inflammatory bowel disease

The specialized journal Science Translational Medicine has published the results of a study conducted by American scientists on mice that showed that foods high in sugar cause an upset of the gut microbiome. This explains why the so-called Western diet increases the risk of IBD.
Inflammatory bowel disease, such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, affects more than 3.5 million people worldwide. This disease manifests itself as severe diarrhea, abdominal pain and other symptoms. Where inflammatory bowel disease is particularly common in Western countries, while research shows that its incidence in children has been increasing steadily since the 1980s.
In this context, many scientists suggest that the main reason for the spread of inflammatory bowel disease in developed countries is the Western diet; That includes high-sugar and high-calorie foods.
As it is known that processed sugary foods increase the risk of obesity and diabetes, but the role of sugar in the development of inflammatory bowel disease is still controversial.
In the study, American biologists – led by Shahanshah Khan of Southwestern Medical Center at the University of Texas in Dallas – conducted laboratory experiments on mice and found that rodents that fed sugar-rich foods were more likely to develop colitis than mice fed a regular diet. And inflammatory processes began in the intestines of mice three days later, after they began receiving food high in sugar.
The study authors found that the polysaccharides altered the composition of the gut microbiome. This is primarily done by supporting the bacterium Akkermansia muciniphila, which acts by degrading the subunit – high molecular weight glycoproteins, the main component of mucus produced by intestinal epithelial cells.
It is worth noting that these bacteria were previously thought to have anti-inflammatory effects, and they were planned to be used in the fight against obesity and type 2 diabetes. However, the results of the study showed that the increase in the number of Akkermansia muciniphila destroyed the protective mucous layer that lines the inner walls of the intestine, which allowed For other bacteria to enter the mucous membrane; This causes colitis.
In this regard, the scientists noted that active enzymes that break down mucus are commonly found in the gut of patients with ulcerative colitis to support their conclusions.