Chlamydiae in Gastrointestinal Disease

Disorders of gut function are among the most prevalent problems presented to physicians practicing in gastroenterology as well as primary care physicians and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is the most common functional gastrointestinal disorder. There is no biomarker of IBS. Instead, the diagnosis is based on symptom criteria and the absence of an organic cause for symptoms (Longstreth et al., 2006). Patients with IBS complain of recurrent abdominal pain, bloating after meals, and disturbed bowel habits. The population prevalence of IBS shows considerable variation between countries. In Asian countries the prevalence varies between 4.0%-22.1% (Makharia et al., 2011), in Europe 6.2%-12% (Hungin et al., 2003) and in North America 11.6%-12.1% (Thompson et al., 2002). In most studies females dominate over males with a factor of 1.4-1.9.