Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

Shawneric - It is nice to meet someone who is also interested in the science of IBS.

Interesting you mentioned Dr Wood's research. I recently read "Neuropathophysiology of functional gastrointestinal disorders". It was great to see solid evidence of the role structural abnormalities could play IBS-PI.

I am somewhat familiar with the brain-gut research. The idea was being tossed around when I was in graduate school in the 1970s. At the time I was studying the role and regulation of dopamine and serotonin in depression using the rat brain as model. The measurement methods were not very sensitive and in order to get enough material I had to harvest dozens of rat brains

This was the part of the research I didn't enjoy. Eventually I switched disciplines. Things have really changed now they can detect a few molecules of almost anything. I am retired and I have been out of biophysics/molecular biology for a long time. However, I try to stay abreast of the research as it relates to functional GI disorders. Like you I have a vested interest

The rewards of gut flora research in particular as it relates to probiotic clinical research seem to be just be coming of age. I was fascinated by O'Mahony et. al. (2005) paper. They showed the ratio of interleukin-10 to interleukin-12 in a small IBS population was 1/3 the normal value. After a 6 week course of Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 (Align) the ratio was back to normal. Later Whorwell et al (2006) reported clinical significant results using this bug in a large primary care IBS population. Since Align is not available in Canada I have been experimenting with Bifidobacterium infantis NLS (Life Start). After six weeks the effects appear to correspond with the reports, in particular a significant reduction in pain. It looks like it might be a good IBS management tool for me. Perhaps the infantis bug is modulating Wood's 'brain-in-the-gut' system

I am looking forward to your posting on the IFFGD digest review of the study on fats and carbohydrates.

References
O'Mahony, L., J. McCarthy, P. Kelly, G. Hurley, F. Luo, K. Chen, G. C. O'Sullivan, B. Kiely, J. K. Collins, F. Shanahan, and E. M. M. Quigley, 2005: Lactobacillus and bifidobacterium in irritable bowel syndrome: Symptom responses and relationship to cytokine profiles. Gastroenterology, 128, 541-551

Whorwell, P. J., L. Altringer, J. Morel, Y. Bond, D. Charbonneau, L. O'Mahony, B. Kiely, F. Shanahan, and E. M. M. Quigley, 2006: Efficacy of an Encapsulated Probiotic Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 in Women with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 101, 1581-1590.

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STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS

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