# Bacterial Overgrowth Apparently Not Important in IBS



## eric (Jul 8, 1999)

Bacterial Overgrowth Apparently Not Important in IBSBy David DouglasNEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jun 04 - An abnormally high number of bacteria in the small intestine does not appear to be a major factor underlying symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Swedish researchers report in the June issue of Gut."The data," senior investigator Dr. Magnus Simren told Reuters Health, "do not support an important role for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, according to commonly used clinical definitions, in IBS."Dr. Simren and colleagues at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg note that a high prevalence of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth has been reported in patients with IBS, but those results were based on indirect determination using hydrogen breath tests.They therefore assessed small intestinal bacterial overgrowth by a direct test -- bacterial culture of small-bowel aspirates -- among 162 patients with IBS and 26 healthy controls. Cultures revealed small intestinal bacterial overgrowth in 4% of patients and 4% of controls.Signs of enteric dysmotility were seen in 86% of patients with overgrowth and in 39% of patients without. Nevertheless, say the investigators, motility alterations could not reliably predict altered small-bowel bacterial flora."However," said Dr. Simren, "mildly increased counts of small-bowel bacteria seem to be more common in IBS," but "its clinical relevance remains unclear."Gut 2007;56:802-808.


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