The lower serum IL-10 in our subjects fulfilling IBS Rome II symptom criteria suggests an altered immune regulation. Further studies are needed to elucidate if a lower serum IL-10 may be useful as a biomarker for IBS in the Mexican population, especially for women with IBS-D.

Background: there has been recent evidence of an alteration in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) immune regulation, as well as variations in cytokine polymorphisms.Aims: to determine the frequency of the IL-10 (-1082G/A) and TNF-α (-308G/A) polymorphisms in subjects with IBS in Mexico.Methods: volunteers answered the Rome II Questionnaire and were classified as IBS (n = 45) and controls (n = 92). The IBS subjects were then categorized as IBS-D: 22.2 %, IBS-C: 28.9 %, and IBS-A/M: 48.9 %. The polymorphism frequency among groups was compared.Results: there were no differences between IBS vs. controls in the frequency of the high (8.9 vs. 18.5 %), intermediate (60.0 vs. 57.6 %), or low (23.9 vs. 38.9 %) producer IL-10 genotypes, p = 0.315. Neither were there differences in the high (0 vs. Conclusions: in this group of volunteers in Mexico, the frequency of the IL-10 (-1082G/A) and TNF-α (-308G/A) genotypes was similar in IBS and controls. However, there was a greater frequency of the low producer of IL-10 in those subjects with IBS-D, suggesting a genetic predisposition to abnormal immune regulation due to a lower anti-inflammatory component in this subgroup.

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