Evaluation of the Efficacy of Mesalazine on Irritable Bowel Syndrome Symptoms

Abstract

Introduction: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a prevalent functional disorder of the gastrointestinal system in which some evidence has shown the role of inflammation in the disease. In this study, we investigated the effect of Mesalazine - is an anti-inflammatory drug - on the improvement of clinical symptoms in patients with IBS. Material and methods: This study was a double-blind controlled clinical trial conducted on 44 patients with IBS who were divided into two groups of 22 patients. Cases group received Mesalazine at a dose of 500 mg every 6 hours, and the control group received a placebo drug in the same shape and order. Severity of primary disease and also initial and post-treatment status of patients recorded. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, and chi-square test was, and a significant level of 0.05 was considered. Results: The groups were similar in terms of age (p=0.39) and disease severity (p=0.75) at the beginnings of study. According to the frequency of more than 20% improvement of symptoms in the two groups, this frequency was 86.4% in the case group and 54.5% in the control group (p=0.021). Also, the average recovery rate was 70.4 ± 32.5 % in the case group and 35.4 ± 36.9% in the control group. Conclusion: Based on the results in this study, it can be concluded that Mesalazine is significantly more effective than a placebo in controlling the symptoms of IBS patients.