The Impact and Prevalence of Food Allergies among Adults with Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Document Type : Scientific Research

Authors

1 Internal Medicine Department, Hepatology and GIT Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

2 Al-Mustansiriya University, Iraq. Visitor internal medicine resident, Ain Shams University Hospital, Cairo, Egypt.

Abstract

Background: Abdominal pain that flares up again and irregular intestinal motility are the features of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a complex bowel symptom with an incidence of 5.2-22% in people. IBS and allergy illnesses share many common causes, including food intolerance, post-infectious inflammation, and allergic reactions. This suggests that there may be an immune-mediated relationship between the two conditions. The Research Ethics Committee (REC) at the Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, approved this research, aiming to evaluate the impact and incidence of food allergies among adults with IBS.
Methods: Between January 2023 and June 2023, we conducted our prospective cohort study in the gastroenterology unit of Ain Shams University Hospital, using Rome IV criteria to diagnose IBS in 84 participants after exclusion of cases with immune deficiencies, significant previous abdominal surgery, and organic gastrointestinal disorders. Participants' dietary habits and demographic information were noted, and they also underwent a full medical history, physical examination, CBC, stool analyses, serum IgE tests, and a two-week food record to monitor their intake of allergenic foods and their impact on the IBS manifestations.
Results: Among our subjects of the research, the prevalence of food allergies was in 50% of patients, with common sensitivities to cow's milk, egg white, and wheat. Significant associations existed between food allergies and IBS subtypes, particularly IBS-C.
In Conclusion, food allergies are common in IBS cases, and there is a strong correlation between certain food allergies and IBS subtypes, especially in people who meet specific clinical and demographic criteria.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Ahmed Fathy (Assistant professor of internal medicine, gastroenterology, and hepatology unit), Samah Soliman (Professor of gastroenterology, hepatology, and infectious diseases), and Amany Mohamed Abdalla (Assistant professor of family medicine) were the peer reviewers. E- Editor: Salem Youssef Mohamed, Osama Ahmed Khalil, Amany Mohammed. Copyright ©. This open-access article is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). It may be used, distributed, or reproduced in other forums, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited. The original publication in this journal must be cited according to accepted academic practice. Disclaimer: The authors' claims in this article are solely their own and do not necessarily represent their affiliated organizations or those of the publisher, the editors, and the reviewers. Any product evaluated in this article or its manufacturer's claim is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher. Ethical approval: The Research Ethics Committee (REC) at the Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, under the supervision of Prof. Fathy Tash, approved this study with No. MS 875/ 2022/2023. Per the regular operating procedures of both the institution and the REC, the REC does not release the names of its members. Each participant provided informed approval for data analysis. Study protocol: In adherence to the principles outlined in the Helsinki Declaration, the study protocol was implemented with approval from the institutional review board. Before commencing the research, written consent was obtained from the patients to utilize their clinical information. Data and materials availability: The datasets used or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Funding: This study had no funding from any resource. This work was done according to the STROBE guidelines. Authors' contributions Hamza A.M. collected and followed up on the patients, carrying out the requested investigations. Nashaat E.H., El-Gaaly S.A., and Elfors M.A. shared in following up on the patients and analyzing the collected data. All authors authorized the manuscript. Acknowledgment: Above all else, we have an ongoing duty to God Almighty, the Most Gracious and the Most Forgiving. We also appreciate all the subjects who participated in the study and helped record the necessary data.

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics