A multicenter study published in the peer-reviewed journal Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics shows that a new molecular test accurately detects changes in gut microbiota called dysbiosis. With increasing interest in the Human Microbiome and evidence that dysbiosis is implicated in major diseases, including Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, obesity and diabetes II the researchers believe that new GA-map™ Dysbiosis Test will help physicians to improve diagnosis and treatment of patients.

Developed by the Norwegian company Genetic Analysis AS the 16S rRNA based test uses fifty-four DNA probes targeting about 300 bacteria at different taxonomic levels in order to build a gut microbiota profile from a patient's faecal sample and detect changes or dysbiosis. The work included patients from Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Spain and showed a frequency of dysbiosis in 73% of IBS patients, 70% of treatment-naıve IBD patients and 80% of IBD patients in remission, vs. 16% of healthy individuals. A Comparison study to 16S sequencing showed an 80 % correlation.

In their conclusions the authors of the paper comment: "This is the first clinical test, aiming to identify and characterise dysbiosis based on faecal specimens. The GA-mapTM Dysbiosis Test identifies and characterizes dysbiosis in IBS and IBD patients, and provides insight into a patient's intestinal microbiota. Evaluating microbiota as a diagnostic strategy may allow monitoring of prescribed treatment regimens and improvement in new therapeutic approaches"

Genetic Analysis CEO Ronny Hermann said 'the acceptance of the GA-map™ test as a useful clinical tool is an important milestone for the company. The GA-map™ Dysbiosis Test has the potential to improve the management of the growing number of IBS and IBD patients, and will further be evaluated in obesity and diabetes patients."