title: Diagnosis of Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Role of Potential Biomarkers.
abstract: Irritable bowel syndrome is a disorder diagnosed on symptom-based criteria without inclusion of any objective parameter measurable by known diagnostic methods. Heterogeneity of the disorder and overlapping with more serious organic diseases increase uncertainty for the physician's work and increase the cost of confirming the diagnosis. This paper is an attempt to summarize the efforts to find adequate biomarkers for irritable bowel syndrome, which should shorten the time to diagnosis and reduce the cost. Most of the reviewed papers were observational studies from secondary care institutions. Since publication of the Rome III criteria in 2006, most recent studies use these for the recruitment of IBS patients. This is a positive step forward as future studies should use the same criteria, facilitating comparison of their results. Among the studied biomarkers, most evidence is provided for fecal calprotectin. Cutoff values for fecal calprotectin have still to be investigated prior to inclusion in the irritable bowel syndrome diagnostic algorithm.
authors.affiliation: Emergency Department, Clinical Hospital Centre Rijeka, Krešimirova 42, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia.
authors.forename: Ivana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Plavšić
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Clinical Hospital Centre Rijeka, Krešimirova 42, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia.
authors.forename: Goran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hauser
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka, Sveučilišna Avenija 4, 510000 Rijeka, Croatia.
authors.forename: Mladenka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tkalčić
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka, Sveučilišna Avenija 4, 510000 Rijeka, Croatia.
authors.forename: Sanda
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pletikosić
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Clinical Centre Tuzla, Trnovac bb, 76000 Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
authors.forename: Nermin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Salkić