title: The Relationship between Small-Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth and Intestinal Permeability in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Small-intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is a frequent finding in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Many patients with IBS also have abnormal intestinal permeability, which is probably due to low-grade inflammation in the intestinal mucosa. Our aim was to verify the relationship between SIBO and small-intestinal permeability in IBS patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cohort of 38 IBS patients (20 women and 18 men; age range 16-70 years; mean age 40.2 years) with symptoms that fulfilled Rome-II criteria, and 12 healthy controls (5 women and 7 men; age range 25-52 years; mean age: 37.8 years) were recruited. All subjects underwent lactulose breath tests (LBTs) and intestinal permeability tests using the polyethylene glycol (PEG) 3350/400 retrieval ratio.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A positive LBT was found in 18.4% (7/38) of patients with IBS and 8.3% (1/12) of control subjects. Intestinal permeability was significantly increased in patients with IBS compared with the normal controls (0.82+/-0.09 vs 0.41+/-0.05 [mean+/-SD], respectively; p<0.05). However, the intestinal permeability did not differ significantly between IBS patients with a positive LBT and those with a negative LBT (0.90+/-0.13 and 0.80+/-0.11, respectively; p>0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Intestinal permeability was increased in patients with IBS, but this finding did not correlated with the occurrence of SIBO.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jung Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Dong Il
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Hong Joo
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yong Kyun
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Chong Il
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Sohn
authors.forename: Woo Kyu
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.forename: Byung Ik
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kyoung Hee
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Won
authors.forename: Soon Min
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Park