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Study, 2022

Do women with PMS have different gut bacteria?

Yes. Women with PMS have clearly different gut bacteria compared to women without PMS. They have much higher levels of certain bacteria, especially one called Collinsella, approximately 4.5 times higher.

Moderate study design 24 Japanese women with PMS and 144 healthy Japanese women

What they did

Researchers compared gut bacteria from stool samples of 24 Japanese women with PMS to 144 Japanese women without PMS, analyzing the bacterial composition.

What they found

The PMS group had clearly different gut bacteria compared to the control group. Three types of bacteria were higher in the PMS group: Collinsella (approximately 4.5 times higher than the control group), Bifidobacterium, and Blautia. Collinsella showed the strongest link to PMS in women aged 30-40 years.

What it means for you

The bacteria living in your gut may be related to PMS. Since diet affects gut bacteria, changing your diet might help improve PMS. However, we do not know whether these bacteria cause PMS or if PMS causes these bacterial changes. This was a relatively small study and needs to be confirmed with larger research.

24

women with PMS studied

144

healthy women (control group)

~4.5x

Collinsella higher in PMS group

About the study

Original title
Characteristics of the Gut Microbiota in Japanese Patients with Premenstrual Syndrome
Authors
Okuma K, Kono K, Otaka M et al.
Journal
International journal of women's health
Year
2022
Study design
Study
Participants
144
What was tested
None (observational study comparing PMS and control groups)
Open access
Yes

Topics