This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.- Abstract
Background/Aims
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is characterized by chronic abdominal pain or discomfort accompanied by abnormal bowel movements. In sensitized subjects, ingested nickel (Ni) may induce gastrointestinal symptoms similar to IBS, in addition to typical systemic cutaneous lesions (systemic nickel allergy syndrome [SNAS]). A low nickel diet could improve the systemic manifestations. We evaluated prevalence of nickel allergy in IBS and effects of low Ni diet on (1) gastrointestinal symptoms control, (2) intestinal barrier function, (3) quality of life, and (4) psychological status of patients with IBS and Ni-sensitized patients.Methods
Twenty consecutive patients affected by IBS and suspected SNAS underwent intestinal permeability tests. Gastrointestinal symptoms were evaluated using the visual analogue scale before and after 3 months low Ni diet. Subjects with increased intestinal permeability at baseline repeated nuclear examination after the diet.Results
The most frequent profile was diarrhea-predominant IBS (8/20). The low Ni diet induced a significant and constant improvement of gastrointestinal symptoms and an equally significant improvement of visual analogue scale. Mean urinary output of 51Chromium ethylene-diamine-tetra-acetate (51Cr-EDTA) was 5.91%/24 hr (± 2.08), significantly different from the control group (2.20%/24 hr ± 0.60,P -0.0001).Conclusion
This pilot study shows that low Ni diet improves gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with IBS and SNAS.- Keywords: Diet, Hypersensitivity, Irritable bowel syndrome, Nickel, Permeability
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