Background: Diosmectite, a natural colloidal clay, has been used worldwide for a number of approved indications, including the treatment of chronic functional diarrhea. Here, we used high-resolution whole metagenome shotgun sequencing to assess the impact of a 5 weeks administration of diosmectite (3 g/sachet, 3 sachets/day) on the fecal microbiota of 35 adults with functional chronic diarrhea.
Results: Gut microbiota was not impacted by diosmectite administration. In particular, richness remained stable and no microbial species displayed a significant evolution. Segregating patients either by diosmectite response (non responder, early responder, late responder) or by nationality (Great-Britain or Netherlands) yielded the same results.
Conclusion: We concluded that no microbiota-related physiological alterations are expected upon long-term treatment with diosmectite.
Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03045926.
Keywords: Chronic diarrhea; Diosmectite; Gut microbiota; Long-term diosmectite use; Loose stools; Microbiota composition; Shotgun metagenomics; Smecta®; Watery stools.
© 2022. The Author(s).