Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a gastrointestinal disorder of unknown cause and pathogenesis affecting an estimated 10-20% of adults in western populations. IBS remains difficult to diagnose and the overlap of symptoms with organic diseases, such as coeliac disease (CD) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) means diagnosis of IBS continues to be one of exclusion, resulting in unnecessary and costly clinical investigations. The absence of a clear mechanism based model for the disease, the absence of any known organic cause and the lack of disease selective biomarkers represents a significant challenge to the diagnosis and development of novel and effective therapies for IBS. Recently, Dr. Nally’s research group have identified a unique expression pattern of immune system genes in IBS gut tissue which clearly distigusihes and separates patients with IBS from heatlhy controls. These changes in gene expression were independent of IBS subtype and co-morbid anxiety and/or depression. In this project we will investigate if the expression pattern of these immune system genes will allow us to distinguish patients with IBS from patients with IBD. If successful this would provide preliminary data to justify pursuing this line of investigation and these genes as potential biomarkers for IBS.
