Scientists are working on a poop test for endometriosis

Endometriosis is notoriously difficult to diagnose. Now, scientists have devised a new way to spot the condition — by looking for a unique collection of metabolites in poop that could potentially be detected with a simple test.

These metabolites are made by microbes in the gut as by-products of their metabolism when the bacteria digest the food we eat. Some metabolites released by gut bacteria make their way through the digestive system and end up in our poop, which means they can be detected in a stool sample.

Scientists had previously identified a link between distinct changes in the gut microbiome — the community of microbes in the colon — and endometriosis, a debilitating disease in which tissue that normally lines the uterus grows elsewhere in the body. Endometriosis can cause chronic pelvic pain, iNFLaMMAtion and impaired fertility, and historically it's been difficult to diagnose.

Related: Endometriosis may quadruple risk of ovarian cancer, study finds

In the new study, published Friday (Oct. 11) in the journal Med, researchers demonstrated for the first time that a distinct signature of metabolites in poop could be used to efficiently flag the disease. The hope is that such a test could someday be incorporated into the diagnostic workup for endometriosis.

While the test wouldn't replace conventional diagnostic approaches, it could provide a simple way to check if a person likely has endometriosis before they commit to getting an invasive surgical procedure.

"When women suspect that they may have symptoms of endometriosis, they could take this non-invasive test and have some certainty that 'Ok, I might have this disease,'" Rama KoMMAgani, study co-author and an associate professor of pathology at Baylor College of Medicine, told Live Science.