Functional bowel symptoms in the general population (Review)

Abstract

Several patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) do not seek medical attention for their symptoms. When patients with IBS seek help, the majority of them are handled at primary healthcare centers, whereas research studies are performed at tertiary healthcare centers. The present study aimed to summarize findings from >4,000 participants of the general population included in the Malmö Offspring Study (inclusion rate 46.7%). The participants were clinically examined, their blood and fecal samples collected, and their questionnaires completed. The participants were divided into subjects with or without self-reported IBS and those having functional gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in the past 2 weeks. The presence of IBS and GI symptoms in the participants were associated with each other. Zonulin levels did not differ between participants with or without GI diseases and were not associated with the degree of GI symptoms. The parameters low body weight at birth and small for gestational age were associated with the degree of the symptoms' influence on daily life. IBS and GI symptoms were positively associated with Blautia abundance. Beta-diversity differed between participants with or without these two conditions. Positive correlations were noted between the degree of diarrhea and the mean 24-h measurements of systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate. Both IBS and GI symptoms were associated with female sex, smoking, stress, poor sleeping habits, unemployment, drug use, and a family history of GI diseases, whereas younger age was inversely associated with IBS and its associated symptoms. In conclusion, only a limited number of medical findings could be identified in participants with IBS and GI symptoms, whereas sociodemographic and environmental conditions were associated with these entities.

The failure of biological treatment in axial spondyloarthritis is linked to the factors related to increased intestinal permeability and dysbiosis: prospective observational cohort study

“…The lack of association of zonulin with gastrointestinal symptoms and IBD shows difficulty in selecting individuals with increased intestinal permeability based on the medical history and clinical symptoms. Similar results have already been reported in other studies [ 38 , 39 ]. It is likely that the relationship of IBD and gastrointestinal with biological treatment failure did not depend only on a damaged intestinal barrier.…”

Defining a timeline of colon pathologies after keratin 8 loss: rapid crypt elongation and diarrhea are followed by epithelial erosion and cell exfoliation

“…Nevertheless, parallels can be drawn between the phenotype of K8 flox/flox ;Villin-CreER t2 mice, and various diarrheic diseases other than IBD, such as microscopic colitis (54), leaky gut, viral and bacterial diarrhea. Similarities include constant, but not life threatening, diarrhea, modest neutrophil activity, and minor focal changes in crypt histomorphometry (55)(56)(57)(58). Not much is known about the possible keratin changes in diarrhea, microscopic colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, or colon functionality in general.…”

Gut microbiota and risk of lower respiratory tract infections: a bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization study

“…Our results did not align with previous findings regarding the protective effect of Blautia in human diseases. However, higher abundance of Blautia was also reported in the fecal microbiota of patients with irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis, functional gastrointestinal symptoms (Rajilić-Stojanović et al, 2011;Nishino et al, 2018;Ohlsson, 2022), and breast cancer (Luu et al, 2017), suggested its association to the local or systemic inflammation. Indeed, Blautia, especially Blautia coccoides, activates the secretion of inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) to an even greater extent than lipopolysaccharide (Tuovinen et al, 2013).…”