Post-infectious IBS

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a common multi-factorial disorder affecting approximately 12% of the populations worldwide resulting in significant global morbidity1. Approximately one in ten patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) believes that their IBS began with an infectious illness. The persistence of these symptoms about the clearance of infecting pathogen is known as post infectious IBS (PI-IBS). The current conceptual framework regarding the patho-physiological mechanism of PI-IBS suggests that PI-IBS is associated with altered motility, increased intestinal permeability, increase numbers of enterochromaffin cells and persistent intestinal inflammation, characterized by increased number of T-lymphocytes and mast cells and increased expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines. This therefore suggests that an exposure to pathogenic organism disrupts intestinal barrier function alter neuromuscular function and triggers chronic inflammation causing sustain IBS symptoms.