Spatial mapping of human colonic niches reveals rapid, mucus-specific microbiota disruption after bowel cleansing.

ABSTRACT: Bowel preparation is routinely performed before colonoscopy, yet its immediate effects on the spatial organization of the colonic microbiota at the mucosal interface remain poorly resolved. Here, we introduce a high-resolution endoscopic mucus-harvesting approach, combined with luminal aspirates and mucosal biopsies, to generate a high-resolution, within-subject trajectory of microbiota alterations across distinct colonic niches in healthy adults over the first 24 hours after purging. While luminal bacterial communities remained remarkably stable, with no significant changes in alpha or beta diversity and proportional washout of taxa. In contrast, mucus-associated and mucosal communities underwent a rapid but reversible ecological restructuring, characterized by immediate post-cleansing sh

SUBMITTER: Yilmaz B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12940144 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature