title: Irritable bowel syndrome and gastrointestinal parasite infection in a developing nation environment.
abstract: Postinfectious IBS is defined in the industrialized world as IBS onset following a sentinel gastrointestinal infection. In developing nations, where repeated bacterial and parasitic gastrointestinal infections are common, the IBS pathophysiology may be altered. Our aim was to investigate the relationship between intestinal parasite infection and IBS in the "nonsterile" developing world environment. IBS subjects were identified from a population-based sample of 1624 participants using the Rome II Modular Questionnaire. Stool samples from cases and randomly selected controls were examined for ova and parasites. Logistic regression models explored the relationship between IBS and parasite infection. The overall IBS prevalence among participants was 13.2% (9.3% males, 15.9% females). There was no difference in parasite carriage between IBS cases and controls, 16.6% versus 15.4% (P = 0.78), nor among IBS subtypes. The pathophysiology of post-infectious IBS may be altered in the developing world as compared to industrialized nations and warrants investigation.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Bioinformatics Building, Suite 4143, 130 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7080, USA.
authors.forename: Douglas R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benshoff
authors.forename: Mercedes
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cáceres
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Becker-Dreps
authors.forename: Loreto
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cortes
authors.forename: Christopher F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schmulson
authors.forename: Rodolfo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Peña