An analysis for the clinical difference between post infectious irritable bowel syndrome and non post infectious irritable bowel syndrome

Abstract

To study the clinical discrepancy between patients with post infectious irritable bowel syndrome (PI-IBS) and non post infectious irritable bowel syndrome (NPI-IBS) , and assess the value of serum intestinal fatty acid binding protein (I-FABP) for differential diagnosis. A total of 117 patients with PI-IBS, 201 patients with NPI-IBS and 31 healthy controls were prospectively recruited in General Liberation Army Hospital from 2010 to 2013. Plasma samples and clinical data were collected. Serum I-FABP level was measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The median age of patients with PI-IBS was 36 years. The median time to diagnosis in PI-IBS group was significantly longer than that in NPI-IBS group [(19.7 ± 10.3)months vs (11.4 ± 5.3) months, P < 0.05]. Similarly, the proportion of anxiety [58.1%(68/117) vs 28.9%(58/201), P < 0.05] and the value of I-FABP [(42.6 ± 14.8) µg/L vs (17.3 ± 11.5) µg/L, P < 0.05] in PI-IBS group were significant higher than NPI-IBS patients. The level of I-FABP of healthy controls [(10.6 ± 8.2) µg/L] was also significantly lower than that of PI-IBS patients (P < 0.05), yet no difference from that of NPI-IBS group. The I-FABP value of subgroup PI-IBS patients with diarrhoea (IBS-D) was significant higher than that of NPI-IBS group [(54.8 ± 9.3)µg/L vs (12.3 ± 6.2) µg/L, P < 0.05]. However, other parameters including gender, age, GSRS score, and I-FABP value of subgroup constipation (IBS-C) and mix (IBS-M), were not different between PI-IBS group and NPI-IBS group (all P > 0.05). PI-IBS is an occult intestinal inflammation disease with mucosa injury. I-FABP might be a potential testing marker for the diagnosis of PI-IBS.