ArticleCommunications medicine2026
Rectal douching is associated with gut dysbiosis and metabolic disruption in HIV-uninfected men who have sex with men.
Article in Communications medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWe aimed to elucidate the effects of rectal douching on gut microbial communities and their associated metabolites in men who have sex with men (MSM).
methodsA community sample of HIV-uninfected MSM were recruited in Guangzhou, China. Participants were stratified into rectal douching and non-douching groups based on their rectal douching behavior within the past three months. Peripheral blood and fecal samples were collected. Serum markers of microbial translocation were quantified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Gut microbiota composition was assessed via 16S rRNA gene sequencing of fecal samples, and microbial metabolites were profiled using a mass spectrometry-based platform.
resultsThis study enrolls a total of 51 HIV-uninfected MSM (20 in the rectal douching group and 31 in the non-douching group). The two groups have comparable age distributions [median age: 25 years, interquartile range (IQR): 23-30 vs. 27 years, IQR: 24-31]. Significant structural shifts in microbial community composition are observed at both the phylum and genus levels in the rectal douching group relative to the non-douching group. The relative abundances of the genera Clostridium, Lachnospira, and Turicibacter are significantly lower in the rectal douching group compared to the non-douching group. Furthermore, rectal douching significantly alters a wide range of microbial metabolites. Notably, rectal douching appears to reduce gut barrier integrity, as evidenced by significantly elevated levels of the microbial translocation marker lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP) in the rectal douching group.
conclusionsRectal douching among HIV-uninfected MSM is associated with gut microbiota dysbiosis, significant alterations in microbial metabolic profiles, and reduced gut barrier integrity. These findings underscore the need for increased awareness and health education within this population.
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.