title: Irritable bowel syndrome might be associated with dry eye disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A possible association between dry eye disease (DED) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has been hypothesized based on the fact that they both share an inflammatory pathogenesis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety-five patients with IBS and 276 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. All patients answered a questionnaire regarding DED symptoms and had a complete ophthalmic examination. DED signs were evaluated using Schirmer's 1 and tear break-up time (tBUT) tests in both groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Female IBS participants presented significantly lower Schirmer's test and tBUT (P=0.002 and P<0.001 respectively) than controls. Both diagnostic tests in male IBS patients were also significantly lower than in controls (P<0.001). 72% of IBS patients gave at least 3 positive answers to the questionnaire compared with 42% of the control group (P<0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest a correlation between IBS and DED. DED symptoms can cause further complications in patients with IBS, and should be considered in their management. However, further research is needed to establish a possible pathophysiologic association.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Medical School (Ioannis Asproudis, Anthoula T. Tsoumani, Konstantinos A. Paschidis), University of Ioannina Medical School, Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Asproudis
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Medical School (Ioannis Asproudis, Anthoula T. Tsoumani, Konstantinos A. Paschidis), University of Ioannina Medical School, Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Anthoula T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Tsoumani
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Internal Medicine and Hepato-Gastroenterology Unit (Konstantinos H. Katsanos, Vasileios Theopistos, Epameinondas V. Tsianos, Dimitrios Christodoulou), University of Ioannina Medical School, Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Konstantinos H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Katsanos
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology (Aristeidis H. Katsanos), University of Ioannina Medical School, Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Aristeidis H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Katsanos
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Internal Medicine and Hepato-Gastroenterology Unit (Konstantinos H. Katsanos, Vasileios Theopistos, Epameinondas V. Tsianos, Dimitrios Christodoulou), University of Ioannina Medical School, Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Vasileios
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Theopistos
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Medical School (Ioannis Asproudis, Anthoula T. Tsoumani, Konstantinos A. Paschidis), University of Ioannina Medical School, Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Konstantinos A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Paschidis
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Internal Medicine and Hepato-Gastroenterology Unit (Konstantinos H. Katsanos, Vasileios Theopistos, Epameinondas V. Tsianos, Dimitrios Christodoulou), University of Ioannina Medical School, Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Epameinondas V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Tsianos
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Internal Medicine and Hepato-Gastroenterology Unit (Konstantinos H. Katsanos, Vasileios Theopistos, Epameinondas V. Tsianos, Dimitrios Christodoulou), University of Ioannina Medical School, Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Christodoulou
keywords: Dry eye; irritable bowel syndrome; keratoconjunctivitis sicca