Lactulose Breath Testing as a Predictor of Response to Rifaximin in Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome With Diarrhea

The nonsystemic antibiotic rifaximin is indicated for irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea (IBS-D) in adults; however, determinants of response remain unclear. The utility of lactulose breath testing (LBT) in predicting response to rifaximin was examined. METHODS: Adults with IBS-D received open-label rifaximin 550 mg 3 times daily for 2 weeks, followed by a 4-week posttreatment assessment period. Thirteen centers prospectively participated in this substudy. LBT was conducted before (day 1) and after (day 14) therapy (breath samples obtained every 15 minutes; up to 240 minutes). Patient response (decrease from baseline of ≥30% in abdominal pain and ≥50% decrease in frequency of mushy/watery stool), symptom improvement, and the relationship of clinical outcomes to LBT results were assessed. RESULTS: A total of 93 patients were included; 62 (66.7%) had positive baseline LBT results. Overall, 48.4% (45/93) of patients responded to rifaximin; of these, 59.7% (37/62) had a positive baseline LBT vs 25.8% (8/31) with a negative LBT (P = 0.002; odds ratio 4.3, 95% confidence interval, 1.5–12.7). Patients with a positive baseline LBT result experienced significantly greater improvement from baseline in 6 of 7 individual IBS symptoms. LBT results after rifaximin therapy did not correlate with clinical response in the 86 patients with evaluable breath tests (P = 0.21); however, patients whose LBT results normalized after rifaximin had the highest response rate of 76.5% (13/17). DISCUSSION: A positive baseline LBT result predicted a higher likelihood of response to rifaximin in IBS-D, suggesting a gut microbiome modulatory mechanism of action for rifaximin.