For millions battling stubborn constipation that no laxative seems to fix, relief may finally be in sight.
Scientists at Nagoya University in Japan have identified a brand-new condition they are calling “bacterial constipation”.
According to them, it is caused not by slow guts, but by two everyday bacteria teaming up to destroy the protective mucus that keeps our stools soft and moving smoothly.
WHAT IS BACTERIAL CONSTIPATION?
The problem lies in the thick, gel-like colonic mucin that lines the large intestine and keeps the stool moist.
When this mucus layer breaks down too much, stools turn hard, dry and difficult to pass, even if the gut muscles are working fine.
Standard treatments fail because they target movement, not the missing moisture.
The culprits behind this condition are Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron and Akkermansia muciniphila. They work as a team.
Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron first strips away protective sulphate groups from the mucin using a special enzyme called sulfatase.
Then Akkermansia muciniphila moves in and eats the now-exposed mucin.
The result? The stool loses its natural lubrication and gets stuck.
HOW CAN CONSTIPATION BE CURED?
People with Parkinson’s often suffer severe constipation for 20 to 30 years before tremors appear.
The study found higher levels of these mucus-degrading bacteria in Parkinson’s patients, suggesting the microbes play a bigger role than nerve damage alone.
This discovery could finally explain why their constipation is so hard to treat.
The question is, can this be fixed?
Lead author Tomonari Hamaguchi and his team proved that it can be fixed.
“We genetically modified B. thetaiotaomicron so it could no longer activate the enzyme sulfatase that removes sulfate groups from mucin,” Hamaguchi explained.
The team then added the modified bacteria along with Akkermansia muciniphila into germ-free mice. The result was clear.
“We put these modified bacteria into germ-free mice together with Akkermansia muciniphila, and surprisingly, the mice did not develop constipation; the mucin stayed protected and intact.”
The findings, published in the journal Gut Microbes, open the door to new drugs that block the sulfatase enzyme, offering real hope for the millions with chronic idiopathic constipation and Parkinson’s-related gut problems.
This simple bacterial discovery could change how doctors treat one of the most common yet frustrating digestive issues worldwide.
