Is Irritable Bowel Syndrome a Low-Grade Inflammatory Bowel Disease?

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Irritable bowel syndrome symptoms in inflammatory bowel disease

There is considerable overlap between symptoms in patients with IBS and IBD, and they include abdominal pain and diarrhea. The presence of endoscopically verified colitis, fever, GI bleeding, serologic markers of inflammation, and overt inflammation in biopsies is diagnostic for IBD. In a proportion of patients later diagnosed with IBD, however, initial symptoms may be attributed to a functional gut disorder. A recent study showed that the prodrome period in patients with Crohn's disease and

Degree of inflammation, gut function, and symptom generation

Diagnosis of active IBD requires the presence of macroscopic inflammation, polymorphonuclear and mononuclear cells, and epithelial damage in biopsies. The severity of the disease, however, does not always correlate with the severity of symptoms reported by patients [27]. Abdominal pain and diarrhea are also frequent symptoms in microscopic colitis, which is characterized by only a mild increase in intraepithelial lymphocytes and monocytes.

The question arises, what degree of gut inflammation is

Increased susceptibility to inflammation in irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disorder

This article has mentioned that IBS and recent-onset of IBD may share some clinical similarities. Is there any evidence for a common pathogenetic pathway? There are reports suggesting that a common genetic background for IBD and IBS exists based on abnormalities within the immune system. IL-10 is a pleiotropic cytokine with counterinflammatory properties. It has been shown that mice deficient in IL-10 develop spontaneous enterocolitis [41]. A recent study suggested that patients with IBS may be

Psychosocial factors in irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease: effects through the immune system

Psychosocial factors contribute to the predisposition, precipitation, and perpetuation of IBS symptoms [47]. Comorbidity of psychiatric conditions is high and occurs in up to 94% of patients [48]. Research in the field of psychosomatic medicine showed an association between depression and activation of the immune system [49] as recently documented by elevated C-reactive protein levels in patients with depression [50], [51]. Depression also was found to be important predictor for developing

Experimental models of functional gut disorders

Animal models are valuable for investigating the role of intestinal inflammation in gut dysfunction. NIH Swiss mice infected with the nematode Trichinella spiralis developed muscle hypercontractility in vitro, which persisted long after parasite eviction [56]. This process was initiated by mucosal Th2 cytokines and maintained by COX-2 [57] and TGF-β [58] in the muscle layer. Previously infected mice displayed abnormal small bowel motility in vivo, with increased retroperistalsis and heightened

What drives immune activation and inflammation in functional bowel disorders?

Most patients with GI infection recover without any long-term consequences, restoring their bowel function after few weeks of the initial infection. A small proportion of patients continues to experience chronic problems, however, and the question arises what drives their symptoms that can sometimes persist for up to 6 years after infection [64]? A genetic predisposition to increased susceptibility to inflammatory stimuli may underlie some cases. Environmental factors also should be considered.

Is irritable bowel syndrome a mild form of irritable bowel disease?

The authors believe that IBD and at least a subset of IBS patients exist at two ends of the same spectrum of pathophysiology, which involves immune activation and inflammation. This is prompted by the observation that IBS symptoms may precede IBD, which reflects gut dysfunction generated by subclinical inflammation. It also has been observed that IBS occurs in patients in remission from IBD. This concept is underpinned by results of basic scientific studies in animal models showing that immune

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      Citation Excerpt :

      After two weeks of drugs treatment, the mast cell number was significantly reduced in puerarin and puerarin-loaded microspheres groups compared with the model group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Inflammation may play a pathogenic role in IBS and is thought to perpetuate the symptoms of IBS [35]. Critical inflammatory cytokines consisting of IL-6, IL-β, and TNF-α have been found that they would express excessively in IBS [35,36].

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