Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth and the irritable bowel syndrome

Mechanisms of decompensation and organ failure in cirrhosis: From peripheral arterial vasodilation to systemic inflammation hypothesis

“…Microbial products and DAMPs activate receptors of the innate immune system contributing to liver disease progression and causing a systemic inflammatory response. Persistent stimulation of circulating immune cells increases plasma pro-inflammatory cytokines including IL-6, TNF-α and NO [74,75]. Several of these molecules, namely TNF-α, can disrupt intestinal tight junctions augmenting gut leakiness.…”

Use and abuse of hydrogen breath tests

“…66 67 Recently, SIBO has been suggested to be associated with a large number of different conditions, such as coeliac disease, 34 chronic pancreatitis, 68 69 hypothyroidism, 70 Parkinson's disease, 71 and fibromyalgia. 72 However, the proposed contribution of SIBO to IBS has received the greatest attention, with studies demonstrating prevalence values of 38-84% of SIBO in IBS, 8 9 72-74 but these studies have been heavily criticised, [75][76][77][78][79] and contradictory results exist. 80 81 In most cases the diagnosis of SIBO has been established by the use of hydrogen breath tests, usually with glucose or lactulose.…”

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth in patients with irritable bowel syndrome

“…15 However, these studies have been heavily criticised, mainly because of the weakness of the LHBT and the interpretation of the results, and contradictory results exists. [27][28][29][30][31] Therefore, the aim of our study was to determine the prevalence of SIBO in a large sample of patients with IBS by culture of small-bowel aspirate. Moreover, we also wanted to evaluate whether overgrowth of bacteria in these patients could be related to small-bowel motility characteristics, and to the symptom profile of the patients.…”