Irritable Bowel Can Follow Dysentery

In some cases, irritable bowel syndrome can result from a bout of dysentery caused by acute intestinal infection with Shigella bacteria, according to a report from China.

In some cases, irritable bowel syndrome can result from a bout of dysentery caused by acute intestinal infection with Shigella bacteria, according to a report from China.Irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, is an often-mysterious ailment, with no obvious explanation for sufferers’ bloating, pain, diarrhea and constipation. Previous studies have suggested that a history of dysentery triples the risk of IBS, the researchers explain in the medical journal Gut.Despite this clue, it’s not known how often IBS or the similar condition known as functional bowel disorder (FBD) occurs after Shigella-related dysentery.Dr. G-Z Pan and colleagues from Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, looked into this question by studying 295 subjects with so-called bacillary dysentery and 243 matched “controls” without the intestinal infection.After bacillary dysentery, 22 percent of patients had FBD and 8 percent had IBS, the authors report — significantly higher than the corresponding rates (7 percent and 1 percent, respectively) among controls.The duration of infection was an important risk factor for FBD.Compared with controls, the researchers note, patients with IBS had higher inflammatory factors in the lining and nerves of the intestines.”Our study provides new evidence in support of bacillary dysentery as a causative factor of post-infectious IBS,” the authors conclude.They say their findings indicate “that the immune system and the nervous system both play important roles in the (cause) of post-infectious IBS.””There is increasing recognition of the importance of infection” in IBS, Dr. S. M. Collins from McMaster University Medical Center, Hamilton, Ontario, and Dr. G. Barbara from the University of Bologna, Italy, write in a related commentary.They add, “With emerging evidence supporting a role for inflammation and immune activation in IBS, studies are encouraged to address the influence of the microbial environment on the epidemiology and clinical expression of IBS across the globe.”(Source: Reuters Gut, July 2004)