Does Entamoeba histolytica cause irritable bowel syndrome?
GROUND: Symptoms of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) closely mimic those of patients with non-dysenteric amebic colitis. AIM: To examine the clinical relevance of presence and types of Entamoeba histolytica in stools of patients with IBS. METHODS: IBS was diagnosed by Manning’s criteria. Stool examination was done 4-weekly for 48 weeks to detect E. histolytica cysts or trophozoites. Patients underwent initial sigmoidoscopy. Sera of 22 IBS patients, 23 asymptomatic cyst passers and 36 healthy volunteers whose stools were also examined were tested for presence of antiamebic antibodies. Stools were cultured for amebae; positive cultures were subjected to polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis (PAGE) using hexokinase (HK) isoenzyme to distinguish between pathogenic (fast-moving band) E. histolytica infection and nonpathogenic (slow band) species of Entamoeba dispar. RESULTS: E. histolytica cultured from stool samples of four IBS patients had slow-moving band of HK on PAGE. All pati
