Component
Small-intestinal bacterial overgrowth
Small-intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Species, exposure and limitations are retained in each linked claim.
1 recorded relationships. Experimental role, claim status and evidence remain attached to each record.
How nutrients influence it
Every nutrient with a recorded effect on this component, credited to the nutrient that acted rather than the chapter that recorded it. Open a nutrient to see the findings and the conditions they were measured under.
Other things that act on it
Enzymes, hormones, genes, and other components with a recorded effect. These are not nutrients, so they do not count toward the arrows above. Each finding names the chapter that recorded it.
How nutrients reach it in more than one step
Chains of two or more recorded steps that end here, grouped by the nutrient they start from. Each step is a separate finding, so a chain is a route a mechanism could take, not proof that it does.
Tracing routes…
What it does
Every recorded relationship this component is part of, grouped by its role. Plain wording comes first; the technical statement follows.
Where it participates (unsigned role)
Vitamin B12 malabsorption was most prominent in patients on metformin, and pathological Schilling tests, increased glycocholic acid deconjugation and decreased faecal bile acid excretion normalised or improved after stopping the biguanide or giving antibiotics, suggesting small-intestinal bacterial overgrowth binding the intrinsic-factor-B12 complex.
Experimental context and source evidence
- availability_state
- nutrient_deficiency Imported condition classification; unverified.
- evidence_span
- {"source_cache": "artifacts/metformin-research/873086.abstract.txt", "locator": "Indexed abstract; zero-based, end-exclusive Unicode character offsets", "file_sha256": "1889488dcc83ec22842eccf766b842761a6c10643dbf7d8e6f8308331dfdf01c", "start_char": 0, "end_char": 1442, "text_sha256": "1889488dcc83ec22842eccf766b842761a6c10643dbf7d8e6f8308331dfdf01c"}
- experimental_model
- Breath test, faecal bile acid measurement and Schilling tests in maturity-onset diabetics on biguanides
- exposure
- Phenformin, buformin or metformin, with antibiotic treatment as a test
- limitations
- A 1977 study using the Schilling test. It proposes bacterial overgrowth as the mechanism; the antibiotic reversal is suggestive rather than definitive, and it competes with the calcium-dependent explanation.
- nutrient_topic
- Metformin research collection; topical membership is not evidence of a direct clinical effect, and pharmacological exposure is not dietary intake. · Metformin
- organism
- Human
- plain_language
- A second explanation: bacteria in the small bowel take up the vitamin before the body can.
- primary_references
- [metformin-p873086] Alteration of bile acid metabolism and vitamin-B12-absorption in diabetics on biguanides. (1977). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/873086/ DOI: 10.1007/bf01219698
- tissue_or_cell_type
- Small intestine
- trigger_kind
- nutrient_deficiency Imported condition classification; unverified.
Metformin: transport, molecular targets, gut mechanisms and nutrient interactions (2026-09-19) · lines 1165–1176
AI-assisted literature curation; primary study URLs and scope retained in the document and extraction. Not publisher full text. · supports · Breath test, faecal bile acid measurement and Schilling tests in maturity-onset diabetics on biguanides · source_derived_draft · unverified_draft
### metformin-b12-bacterial-overgrowth Vitamin B12 malabsorption was most prominent in patients on metformin, and pathological Schilling tests, increased glycocholic acid deconjugation and decreased faecal bile acid excretion normalised or improved after stopping the biguanide or giving antibiotics, suggesting small-intestinal bacterial overgrowth binding the intrinsic-factor-B12 complex. Condition category: nutrient_deficiency nutrient_topic: Metformin research collection; topical membership is not evidence of a direct clinical effect, and pharmacological exposure is not dietary intake. plain_language: A second explanation: bacteria in the small bowel take up the vitamin before the body can. organism: Human tissue_or_cell_type: Small intestine experimental_model: Breath test, faecal bile acid measurement and Schilling tests in maturity-onset diabetics on biguanides limitations: A 1977 study using the Schilling test. It proposes bacterial overgrowth as the mechanism; the antibiotic reversal is suggestive rather than definitive, and it competes with the calcium-dependent explanation. exposure: Phenformin, buformin or metformin, with antibiotic treatment as a test evidence_span: {"source_cache": "artifacts/metformin-research/873086.abstract.txt", "locator": "Indexed abstract; zero-based, end-exclusive Unicode character offsets", "file_sha256": "1889488dcc83ec22842eccf766b842761a6c10643dbf7d8e6f8308331dfdf01c", "start_char": 0, "end_char": 1442, "text_sha256": "1889488dcc83ec22842eccf766b842761a6c10643dbf7d8e6f8308331dfdf01c"} [metformin-p873086] Alteration of bile acid metabolism and vitamin-B12-absorption in diabetics on biguanides. (1977). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/873086/ DOI: 10.1007/bf01219698
Complete structured claim and evidence
The events it takes part in
A mechanism often involves more than two components. These are the full events, with every participant and its role.
Situations it appears in
Low-supply and faulty-machinery situations recorded in the chapters where this component plays a part.
In the sources
Preserved passages that mention this component, quoted exactly. Open one to read it in context.
Open hypotheses
Proposed ideas that involve this component. They are labeled as hypotheses and do not change any recorded statement.
This is a research prototype built from draft material. It is not medical advice, and its statements still await verification against the original studies.