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February 19, 2026<\/p>\n
2 min read<\/p>\n
Add Us On Google<\/span>Add SciAm<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n A pair of gut bacteria may cause constipation<\/p>\n A new study pinpoints two species of bacteria that work together to dry out the lining of the gut and cause constipation<\/p>\n By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by Claire Cameron<\/span><\/p>\n Kirn Vintage Stock\/Corbis via Getty Images<\/p>\n It is as unfortunate an ailment as it is ubiquitous: at some point in our life, we will become constipated. Our gut is a delicate flower, and sometimes it just can\u2019t cope with the even slightest of changes to our diet or environment: low water intake, a lack of adequate dietary fiber, a sedentary lifestyle, medications, and more can prevent you from \u201cgoing.\u201d<\/p>\n Gut bacteria are crucial to ensuring healthy digestion and defecation. But two species of bacteria may also be the cause of constipation: according to a new study, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron and Akkermansia muciniphila appear to work in concert to break down colonic mucin, the slimy coating in our colon that keeps our poo moving along. Too little mucin means a drier and more constipation-prone colon.<\/p>\n “What excites me most about this study is that we’ve identified a specific mechanism by which gut bacteria can cause constipation,\u201d says Tomonari Hamaguchi, a lecturer at Nagoya University in Japan and lead author of the study. He notes that constipation causes some 2.5 million doctor visits every year in the U.S.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n \u201cYet for many patients, current treatments provide only temporary relief because the underlying cause remains unknown,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n In the study, which was published this week in Gut Microbes, the researchers modified one of the bacteria, B. thetaiotaomicron to prevent it from breaking down mucin. They then transplanted it and the other bacterium, A. muciniphila, into mice.<\/p>\n Interestingly, the mice\u2019s colon mucin stayed intact. And the animals remained regular, with no signs of constipation. The findings indicate that both of the bacteria together, not just one or the other, pose a threat to mucin.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear how widespread these bacteria are in people, but the results could open the door to new treatments for chronic constipation, especially for people who find no relief with the drugs and remedies that are already on the market. According to one estimate, as many as one in five people in North America may have chronic constipation, and it\u2019s more common in women and older people.<\/p>\n \u201cNot all constipation has the same cause, and if we can identify patients with this bacterial mechanism\u2014for example, by measuring fecal Akkermansia levels as a biomarker\u2014we may be able to move toward personalized treatment strategies instead of one-size-fits-all laxatives,\u201d Hamaguchi says.<\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. 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I hope it does that for you, too.<\/p>\n If you subscribe to Scientific American<\/span>, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.<\/p>\n In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world’s best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.<\/p>\n There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you\u2019ll support us in that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" February 19, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm A pair of gut bacteria may cause constipation A new study pinpoints two species of bacteria that work together to dry out the lining of the gut and cause constipation By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by Claire Cameron Kirn Vintage Stock\/Corbis via Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44892,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[1788,23214],"class_list":{"0":"post-44891","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-bacteria","9":"tag-constipated"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/44892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}On supporting science journalism<\/h2>\n
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