scholarly journals Comparison between the Effects of Acupuncture Relative to Other Controls on Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Meta-Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haizhen Zheng ◽  
Rixin Chen ◽  
Xiaofeng Zhao ◽  
Guanhui Li ◽  
Yi Liang ◽  
...  

Background. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder with recurrent abdominal pain and altered defecation habits. We here attempted to determine the effect of acupuncture on IBS. Methods. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in CNKI, VIP, Wanfang, PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Web of science, and ClinicalTrials.gov till July 17, 2019 were searched. Outcomes were total efficacy rates, overall IBS symptom scores, or global quality of life scores. Standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) and risk ratio (RR) with 95% CI were calculated for meta-analysis. Results. We included 41 RCTs involving 3440 participants for analysis. 8 RCTs compared acupuncture with sham acupuncture, among which 3 trials confirmed the biological effects of acupuncture, especially in treating abdominal pain, discomfort, and stool frequency. No significant difference was found when acupuncture was compared with sham acupuncture, in terms of effects on IBS symptoms and quality of life (SMD = 0.18, 95% CI −0.26∼0.63, P=0.42; SMD = −0.10, 95% CI −0.31∼0.11, P=0.35), but the pooled efficacy rate data showed a better outcome for true acupuncture (RR = 1.22, 95% CI 1.01∼1.47, P=0.04), which was not supported by sensitivity analysis. Acupuncture was more effective relative to western medicine in alleviating IBS symptoms (RR = 1.17, 95% CI 1.12∼1.23, I2 = 0%, P<0.00001), whose effect might last 3 months. Besides, acupuncture as an adjunct to western medicine, Chinese medications, or tuina was superior over the single latter treatment (RR = 1.68, 95% CI 1.18 to 2.40, P=0.004; 1.19, 1.03 to 1.36, P=0.02; 1.36, 1.08 to 1.72, P=0.009, respectively), with high heterogeneities. Conclusions. Relative to sham controls, acupuncture showed no superiority for treating IBS, while the advantage over western medicine was significant. Acupuncture could be used as an adjunct in clinical settings to improve efficacy. Future high-quality and large-sample-size studies with adequate quantity-effect design need to be conducted.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (16) ◽  
pp. 3497
Author(s):  
Charlotte Le Morvan de Sequeira ◽  
Marie Kaeber ◽  
Sila Elif Cekin ◽  
Paul Enck ◽  
Isabelle Mack

Background: Functional gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) report clinical improvement following probiotic therapy, but whether psychiatric comorbidity and quality-of-life in IBS improves directly or in directly is unknown. This meta-analysis synthesized the evidence regarding the effects of probiotics on quality of life (QoL), anxiety and depression in IBS. Methods: The review was executed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines using the databases PubMed, Web of Science and Cochrane Library. For QoL, the data were meta-analyzed, and for anxiety and depression a qualitative analysis was performed. Results: Thirty-five placebo-controlled studies were included of which 11 were eligible for meta-analysis. QoL improved with probiotic and placebo similarly, with the probiotic interventions slightly superior (mean QoL difference—0.36 (95% CI: 0.07, 0.64); p = 0.01). Anxiety and depression were similar between placebo and probiotic groups following therapy. Conclusion: For IBS, probiotic therapy improved QoL, but had no effects on anxiety and depression. However, the applied probiotics were not developed for selective effects on psyche and the brain. Therefore, it remains to be shown whether or not patients with IBS would benefit from second generation probiotics developed for these central effects (psychobiotics).



2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 175628482199358
Author(s):  
Nikita Hanning ◽  
Adam L. Edwinson ◽  
Hannah Ceuleers ◽  
Stephanie A. Peters ◽  
Joris G. De Man ◽  
...  

Background and Aim: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a complex and heterogeneous disorder. Sensory, motor and barrier dysfunctions are the key physiological endophenotypes of IBS. Our aim is to review studies evaluating barrier dysfunction in adults and children with IBS, as well as to link those changes with IBS symptomatology and quality of life. Methods: A comprehensive and systematic review of multiple databases was performed up to March 2020 to identify studies comparing intestinal permeability in IBS patients with healthy controls. Both in vivo and in vitro studies were considered. Results: We identified 66 studies, of which 27 used intestinal probes to quantify barrier function. The prevalence of barrier dysfunction differed between PI-IBS (17–50%), IBS-D (37–62%) and IBS-C (4–25%). At a group level, permeability was increased compared with healthy controls in IBS-D (9/13 studies) and PI-IBS (4/4 studies), but only a minority of IBS-C (2/7 studies) and not in the only IBS-M study. All four studies in children with IBS demonstrated loss of barrier function. A heterogeneous set of tight junction genes were found to be altered in small and large intestines of adults with IBS, but these have not been evaluated in children. Positive associations were identified between barrier dysfunction and bowel disturbances (6/9 studies), abdominal pain (9/13 studies), overall symptom severity (1/6 studies), depression and anxiety (1/1 study) and quality of life (1/4 studies). Fecal slurry or supernatants of IBS patients were found to induce barrier disruption in animal models (5/6 studies). Conclusions: Barrier dysfunction is present in a significant proportion of adult and all pediatric IBS studies, especially in the IBS-D and PI-IBS subtype. The majority of studies indicated a positive association between loss of barrier function and symptoms such as abdominal pain and changes in the bowel function.



Author(s):  
Saeed Yazdani Ashtiani ◽  
Mersad Amery

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common, chronic and sometimes disabling functional disorder of the gastrointestinal system and its treatment remains as health problem. Thus the aim of this study was to evaluate the Effect of multispecies probiotic supplementation, as a novel and Controversial therapeutic method on Irritable bowel syndrome. Materials and Methods: In this randomized double blind Placebo-controlled clinical trial, 60 patients with IBS were enrolled. The patients were divided randomly into two groups. Patients in intervention group received two 500 mg probiotic capsules (Familact®) and in control group, received two 500 mg placebo capsules daily for 30 consecutive days. The symptoms and quality of life were measured and compared at the beginning and just after the end of study for each case. Results: Results showed the mean score of Abdominal pain after 1 month of treatment in the probiotic group was significantly lower than the control group (1.76 ± 2.04 vs. 2.88 ± 2.25, P=0.049, respectively). While, other symptoms and quality of life did not change significantly (P>0.05). Furthermore, defecation habit and global symptoms improvement was similar after intervention in both groups and we did not observe significant differences in these items (P>0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study showed the beneficial effects of multispecies probiotic supplementation in controlling IBS patients’ abdominal pain. thus it can be prescribed as a therapeutic option in addition to standard therapy and significantly lead to better control of this symptom in the short term.



Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danilo Paduano ◽  
Arianna Cingolani ◽  
Elisabetta Tanda ◽  
Paolo Usai

Several studies have reported some efficacy of diets low in fermentable carbohydrates (Fermentable Oligo-, Di-, Monosaccharides and Polyols (FODMAPs)) in Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). There is no evidence of its superiority compared to gluten-free and balanced diets in improving IBS patients’ quality of life (QoL). The aim of this study is to assess whether different diets can improve QoL in IBS. Forty-two patients with IBS, according to Rome IV criteria, were enrolled. Low-FODMAP, gluten-free and balanced diets were proposed to each patient in the same succession. Each diet was followed for 4 weeks. The Bristol Stool Scale, the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for bloating and abdominal pain, and the SF12 questionnaire for health-related quality of life were applied at the beginning and at the end of each diet. Twenty-eight of the forty-two patients completed all the three diets. All the three diets reduced symptom severity (p < 0.01), bloating (p < 0.01) and abdominal pain (p < 0.01), and improved quality of life (p < 0.05); 3% of patients expressed a preference for the low-FODMAP diet, 11% for the gluten-free and 86% for the balanced diet (p < 0.01). The balanced diet improves QoL and VAS pain, provides an adequate quantity of FODMAPs and is more appreciated by patients. For these reasons, the balanced diet could be recommended to patients with irritable bowel syndrome.



1998 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 76-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
AW Mangel ◽  
BA Hahn ◽  
AT Heath ◽  
AR Northcutt ◽  
S Kong ◽  
...  

Irritable bowel syndrome is characterized by recurrent abdominal pain and altered bowel function. In designing studies to evaluate new treatments for this disease, however, it is difficult to select appropriate endpoints to reflect improvement in the range of symptoms of the syndrome. In the present study we evaluated the parameter of adequate relief of abdominal pain and discomfort, as perceived by the patients, as a key endpoint for efficacy in the treatment of patients with irritable bowel syndrome. Abdominal pain and bowel function data were collected daily from 370 patients with the disease during treatment with placebo or a novel potent 5HT3 receptor antagonist. Once every 7 days adequate relief of pain and discomfort was assessed. Quality-of-life data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. The endpoint of adequate relief was significantly ( P < 0.05) correlated with improvement in pain severity scores, percentage of pain-free days, percentage of days with urgency, improvement in stool frequency and consistency, and quality-of-life parameters. Adequate relief of pain and discomfort is significantly correlated with changes in multiple parameters associated with irritable bowel syndrome and can be used as an endpoint for assessing response to therapy in these patients.



2021 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-121
Author(s):  
Hyo Rim Jo ◽  
Seong Kyeong Choi ◽  
Won Suk Sung ◽  
Eun Jung Kim ◽  
Su Ji Choi ◽  
...  

The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review and network meta-analysis to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of various types of acupuncture for menopausal hot flashes (HF). Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were retrieved from 8 electronic databases, and the risk of bias was evaluated for the included studies. Pairwise meta-analysis and network meta-analysis were performed using Review Manager and R software for indirect comparison and ranking, respectively. In total, 23 RCTs (2,302 patients) were eligible for systematic review, of which 10 were included in network meta-analysis. Network meta-analysis showed manual acupuncture (MA) had the highest probability of reducing HF frequency and severity, followed by sham acupuncture (SA), electroacupuncture, usual care, or no treatment; furthermore, warm acupuncture significantly improved menopause-specific quality of life compared with MA or electroacupuncture. Compared with hormone replacement therapy, acupuncture had less efficacy in reducing HF frequency but enhanced menopause-specific quality of life. There was no significant difference between MA and SA in mitigating HF. The existing evidence showed that MA could be used for alleviating menopausal HF. However, it is recommended that more high-quality RCTs should be performed.





2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahsa Miryan ◽  
Pejman Alavinejad ◽  
Mohammadreza Abbaspour ◽  
Davood Soleimani ◽  
Alireza Ostadrahimi

Abstract The effects of propolis, a well-known functional food, on irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a chronic gastrointestinal disorder, in humans have yet to be investigated. This study evaluated propolis effects in IBS subjects. In this clinical study, 56 patients with IBS diagnosed by Rome IV criteria were assigned for 6 weeks randomly to the study groups. At the baseline and endpoint phase, patients’ gastrointestinal symptoms, quality of life (QOL), anxiety state, dietary intakes, and anthropometric indices were assessed. Independent t-test, paired t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, Wilcoxon, Fisher's exact test, repeated measures analysis of variance and logistic regression test were used for analyzing the data. To adjust the effect of confounders, covariance analysis was used. The results of this study showed that after modulating the effect of potential confounders, propolis supplementation increased the chance of improving IBS severity by 6.22 (with a confidence interval of: 1.33 - 1.14 and P = 0.035). A significant abdominal pain improvement, anxiety state, and bowel habits dissatisfaction reduction was observed within- and between-group differences in propolis group compared to the placebo group (P = 0.040, P = 0.035, P = 0.029, retrospectively). The overall score of quality of life and its domains in the propolis group was statistically significant, but in comparison between the two groups, this difference was not significant. Also, regards to the food intakes and anthropometric indices, there were no significant differences between and within the two study groups. This study illustrated that propolis supplementation could be used as adjunctive therapy in IBS disease to reduce abdominal pain and anxiety state.



2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Colomier ◽  
Joost Algera ◽  
Chloé Melchior

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the most common disorders of the gut-brain axis, which affects approximately 4% of the global population. The Rome IV criteria define IBS as chronic or recurrent abdominal pain associated with altered bowel habits. Patients can be categorized in four subtypes: IBS with predominant constipation (IBS-C), predominant diarrhea (IBS-D), mixed bowel habits (IBS-M), and unclassified (IBS-U). IBS is associated with a lower quality of life, reduced work productivity, and high healthcare costs. When comparing subtypes, patients with IBS-D report lower disease related quality of life. Due to the scope of this review, we have solely focused on patients with IBS-D. Choosing the right pharmacological treatment in these patients remains challenging due to the heterogeneous patient population, patients’ expectation of the treatment outcome, unavailability of efficacious drugs, and the multifactorial and incompletely understood underlying pathophysiology. Currently, pharmacological treatment options target individual symptoms, such as abdominal pain, altered bowel habits, and bloating. In this review, we aimed to summarize the current and recent pharmacological treatment options in IBS-D, targeting the predominant gastrointestinal symptoms. Additionally, we proposed a pharmacological treatment algorithm which healthcare professionals could use when treating individual patients with IBS-D.



Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document