The prevalence of malnutrition and its predictive value for the incidence of complications were determined in 155 patients hospitalized for internal or gastrointestinal diseases. At admission, 45% of the patients were malnourished according to the Subjective Global Assessment (physical examination plus questionnaire), 57% according to the Nutritional Risk Index [(1.5 X albumin) + (41.7 X present/usual weight)], and 62% according to the Maastricht Index [(20.68 -(0.24 X albumin) -(19.21 X transthyretin (prealbumin) -(1.86 X lymphocytes) -(0.04 X ideal weight)]. Crude odds ratios for the incidence of any complication in malnourished compared with well-nourished pa tients during hospitalization were 2.7 (95% Cl: 1

Summary Background Intestinal permeability has been studied in small groups of IBS patients with contrasting findings. Aims To assess intestinal permeability at different sites of the GI tract in different subtypes of well‐characterised IBS patients and healthy controls (HC), and to assess potential confounding factors. Methods IBS patients and HC underwent a multi‐sugar test to assess site‐specific intestinal permeability. Sucrose excretion and lactulose/rhamnose ratio in 0–5 h urine indicated gastroduodenal and small intestinal permeability, respectively. Sucralose/erythritol ratio in 0–24 h and 5–24 h urine indicated whole gut and colonic permeability, respectively. Linear regression analysis was used to assess the association between IBS groups and intestinal permeability and to adjust for age, sex, BMI, anxiety or depression, smoking, alcohol intake and use of medication. Results Ninety‐one IBS patients, i.e. 37% IBS‐D, 23% IBS‐C, 33% IBS‐M and 7% IBS‐U and 94 HC were enrolled. Urinary sucrose excretion was significantly increased in the total IBS group [μmol, median (Q1;Q3): 5.26 (1.82;11.03) vs. 2.44 (0.91;5.85), P < 0.05], as well as in IBS‐C and IBS‐D vs. HC. However, differences attenuated when adjusting for confounders. The lactulose/rhamnose ratio was increased in IBS‐D vs. HC [0.023 (0.013;0.038) vs. 0.014 (0.008;0.025), P < 0.05], which remained significant after adjustment for confounders. No difference was found in 0–24 and 5–24 h sucralose/erythritol ratio between groups. Conclusions Small intestinal permeability is increased in patients with IBS‐D compared to healthy controls, irrespective of confounding factors. Adjustment for confounders is necessary when studying intestinal permeability, especially in a heterogeneous disorder such as IBS.

Functional urological and gastrointestinal disorders are interrelated and characterized by a chronic course and considerable treatment resistance. Urological disorders associated with a sizeable functional effect include overactive bladder (OAB), interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS), and chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS). Poor treatment outcomes might be attributable to untreated underlying psychological and psychiatric disorders, as the co-occurrence of functional urological and gastrointestinal disorders with mood and anxiety disorders is common. The hypothetical bladder-gut-brain axis (BGBA) is a useful framework under which this interaction can be studied, suggesting that functional disorders represent a sensitized response to earlier threats such as childhood adversity or previous traumatic events, resulting in perceived emotional and bodily distress - the symptoms of functional disorders. Psychological and physical stress pathways might contribute to such alarm falsification, and neuroticism could be a risk factor for the co-occurrence of functional disorders and affective conditions. Additionally, physical threat - either from external sources or internal sources such as infection - might contribute to alarm falsification by influencing body-brain crosstalk on homeostasis and, therefore, affecting mood, cognition, and behaviour. Multidisciplinary research and an integrated care approach is, therefore, required to further elucidate and remediate functional urological and gastrointestinal polymorphic phenotypes.

IBS patients report higher scores for abdominal pain in retrospective questionnaires compared to ESM, with a tendency to report peak rather than average pain scores. ESM can provide more insight in symptom course and potential triggers, and may lead to a better understanding of IBS symptomatology.

The Rome IV IBS population likely reflects a subgroup of Rome III IBS patients with more severe GI symptomatology, psychological comorbidities, and lower quality of life. This implies that results from Rome III IBS studies may not be directly comparable to those from Rome IV IBS populations.

Apart from more severe symptomatology, hypersensitive IBS patients are characterized by significantly younger age compared with normosensitive IBS patients. The study has been registered in the US National Library of Medicine (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov, NCT00702026).

In this placebo-controlled trial in IBS patients with visceral hypersensitivity, no significant effect of a multispecies probiotic on viscerperception was observed. The study has been registered in the US National Library of Medicine (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov, NCT00702026).

Optimal cutoff for visceral hypersensitivity was found at pressure 26 mmHg with a VAS ≥20 mm, resulting in 63.5% of IBS patients being hypersensitive and 11% being allodynic. Standardization of barostat procedures and defining optimal cutoff values for hypersensitivity is warranted when employing rectal barostat measurements for research or clinical purposes.