Authors: Nirmal Kaur, Chun-Chia Chen, Jay Luther and John Y. Kao

Nirmal Kaur

Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Chun-Chia Chen

Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital and National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan

Jay Luther

Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, Michigan

John Y. Kao

Corresponding author: jykao@umich.edu
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, Michigan

The worldwide incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing. Abundant literature has suggested that an imbalance between harmful and protective bacteria, or dysbiosis, of the intestine is largely responsible for the rising incidence of IBD. In this review, data supporting dysbiosis as a cause of IBD are presented. A comparison of the number of scientific publications in the US versus Europe on intestinal dysbiosis and microbiota revealed the US scientific community has a lower level of interest in studying dysbiosis and microbiota compared the research community in Europe. The rising trend of antibiotic use in the US provides further evidence of the lack of concern for the effect of dysbiosis on human health. Further research to understand the causal relationship between dysbiosis and IBD are needed to better guide clinical practice in using probiotics.