Is gallstone disease associated with inflammatory bowel diseases? A meta-analysis.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the association between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and gallstone disease (GD) by performing a meta-analysis.


METHODS
PubMed, Medline, Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library were searched for relevant articles published between January 1980 and February 2015. All statistical analyses were performed using STATA 12.0. A fixed-effects model was adopted; heterogeneity was evaluated by χ(2) test and I(2) statistic; publication bias was assessed by Begg's and Egger's tests.


RESULTS
Five studies qualified for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Patients with IBD had a significantly higher prevalence of GD than those in the control group [odds ratio (OR) 1.72, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.40-2.12, P < 0.0001]. Subgroup analyses showed a significantly higher prevalence of GD in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) (OR 2.05, 95% CI 1.61-2.63, P < 0.0001). However, no significant difference in the prevalence of GD was observed between patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and controls (OR 1.12, 95% CI 0.75-1.68, P = 0.585). Studies from Italy, Sweden and the UK revealed a higher prevalence of GD in patients with IBD. No heterogeneity (I(2) = 25.2%, P = 0.228) or publication bias was observed in our meta-analysis (Begg's test, P = 0.711; Egger's test, P = 0.805).


CONCLUSIONS
Our meta-analysis suggests there is a trend towards higher prevalence of GD in IBD patients, and especially in patients with CD. More rigorous, large-scale multi-center studies are required to investigate the association between GD and IBD.
Department of Gastroenterology, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
Fen Ming
FM
Zhang
Department of Gastroenterology, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
Cheng Fu
CF
Xu
Department of Gastroenterology, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
Guo Dong
GD
Shan
Department of Gastroenterology, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
Hong Tan
HT
Chen
Department of Gastroenterology, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
Guo Qiang
GQ
Xu
D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D042882:Gallstones / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D017594:Publication Bias; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
Crohn disease; gallstones; inflammatory bowel disease; meta-analysis; ulcerative colitis