Society: AGA

Objectives
Ageing seems to have a beneficial effect on irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) (Sperber et al. Gastroenterology 2021), and the odds of developing IBS are lower when age is above 50 years (Lovell & Ford CGH 2012). Older age may also affect symptom reporting and quality of life. In this study, we aimed to characterize IBS patients of different age, by comparing patient reported outcomes and measures of gut physiology.

Methods
IBS patients (n=1677; 74% females; Rome II–IV) that had completed questionnaires and gut physiology testing in studies of pathophysiologic mechanisms were included. Patient reported outcomes were gastrointestinal (GI) symptom severity (GSRS-IBS), psychological distress (HADS), somatic symptom severity (PHQ-12), GI-specific anxiety (VSI), and quality of life (IBS-QOL). Subsets of the patients underwent the following gut physiology tests: transit time by radiopaque markers and/or the wireless motility capsule, a rectal sensitivity test (barostat), anorectal manometry, and a lactulose/mannitol urinary excretion test for small bowel permeability.
Linear regression analyses (controlled for sex) were done to assess if age was associated with the dependent variables. IBS patients were stratified into age groups (‘younger’ 18–29 years; ‘intermediate’ 30–49 years; ‘older’ ≥50 years) and groups were compared by ANOVA.

Results
Most of the patient reported outcomes and measures of gut physiology were associated with age (Table 1). Younger patients had more severe GI symptoms compared to both patients of intermediate and older age, except for diarrhea (younger vs. intermediate) and constipation (younger vs. older). No differences in severity of GI symptoms were observed between patients of intermediate and older age. Younger age was associated with higher levels of general and GI-specific anxiety, and more severe somatic symptoms, and older age was associated with better QOL (Table 2). Older patients had longer oroanal transit times and colonic transit times compared to younger IBS patients, as well as a higher proportion with delayed transit time. Rectal urgency, discomfort, and pain thresholds were lower (=more sensitive) in patients of younger/intermediate age compared to older patients. Anorectal function differed between the groups with lower resting anal sphincter pressures in older patients compared to the other age groups. Small bowel permeability did not differ between the age groups (Table 2).

Conclusion
The overall symptom burden seems to decrease in IBS with increasing age, which may partly be related to age-related changes in GI sensorimotor function. Age is an important factor to take into consideration in the management of patients with IBS, as well as in pathophysiological research.

<b>Table 1. </b>Linear regression analyses of the effect of age on patient reported outcomes and measures of gut physiology in IBS, controlled for sex

Table 1. Linear regression analyses of the effect of age on patient reported outcomes and measures of gut physiology in IBS, controlled for sex

<b>Table 2. </b>Patient reported outcomes and measures of gut physiology in IBS patients with different age

Table 2. Patient reported outcomes and measures of gut physiology in IBS patients with different age

Introduction: Glutamine synthetase (GLUL) catalyzes the conversion of glutamate to glutamine. GLUL has been reported as a target of microRNA-29a and increased microRNA-29a along with decreased GLUL has been reported in patients with diarrhea-predominant IBS (D-IBS) with increased intestinal permeability. However, it is unclear if decreased GLUL is the cause of increased intestinal permeability in a subset of IBS-D patients and there is no data on the regulation of GLUL in IBS-D.
Methods: GLUL mRNA levels were quantified using colon biopsies obtained from 28 treatment naïve IBS-D patients. IBS-D patients in the lowest quartile were considered “low-GLUL” while those in the highest were considered “normal-GLUL” IBS-D patients. Fecal Supernatant (FS) from low-GLUL and normal-GLUL IBS-D patients along with healthy controls (HC) were intracolonically administered to wild-type mice for 24 hours. In vivo and ex vivo barrier function was assessed along with mucosal GLUL, microRNA-29a, and glutamine levels. To assess the rescue effects of glutamine in barrier dysfunction caused by IBS-D FS, glutamine in drinking water (10mg/mL) was provided ad libitum for 72 hours prior to FS administration. Finally, the role of luminal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in GLUL regulation was studied using pharmacological inhibition and genetic knockout models.
Results: Mice treated with low-GLUL IBS-D FS had lower colonic mucosal levels of GLUL mRNA, microRNA-29a, and glutamine compared to mice treated with normal-GLUL IBS-D and HC FS. This was associated with lower colonic trans-epithelial electrical resistance (TEER), the higher plasma concentration of 4-kDa fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) following intraoral gavage, and lower colonic Claudin-1 and ZO-1 mRNA levels in the low-GLUL IBS-D FS treated mice compared to the other two groups. Glutamine rescue completely reversed the effect of low GLUL IBS-D FS on colonic barrier function but did not change the GLUL and microRNA-29a levels. Pre-treatment of mice with ultrapure LPS-RS (Tlr4 antagonist) or treatment of low GLUL IBS-D FS with LPS removal assay reversed the effect of FS on microRNA-29a, GLUL mRNA, and mucosal glutamine levels. This was accompanied by the normalization of TEER, 4KDa-FITC leakage, and tight junction mRNA levels. Intracolonic administration of LPS alone (E. coli O111:B4) increased microRNA-29a, and reduced GLUL mRNA and glutamine levels. Finally, GLUL mRNA, microRNA-29a levels, and glutamine levels were similar between Tlr4-/- mice treated with low GLUL IBS-D and HC FS. There was no evidence of barrier dysfunction in Tlr4^-/- mice treated with low GLUL IBS-D FS.
Conclusion: Luminal LPS regulates colonic miRNA-29a and GLUL levels in a subset of patients with IBS-D. Low colonic GLUL levels cause low mucosal glutamine and barrier dysfunction in rodent models, which is reversed with glutamine supplementation.

Luminal LPS regulates microRNA-29a and Glutamine synthetase levels in a subset of patients with IBS-D leading to barrier dysfunction

Luminal LPS regulates microRNA-29a and Glutamine synthetase levels in a subset of patients with IBS-D leading to barrier dysfunction

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is characterized by abdominal pain associated with altered bowel habits including constipation (IBS-C) or diarrhea (IBS-D). The colonic mucosa is richly innervated by extrinsic efferent and afferent nerves and intrinsic enteric neurons that modulate motor, secretory and sensory functions. The complex interplay of these nerves and immune cells are thought to be altered in IBS. Aims: 1. To establish an approach for 3D imaging of innervation in colonic mucosal biopsies and computational quantitation of nerve fibers (NFs), enteric glial cells (EGCs), mast cells (MCs) and the proximity MCs to NFs. 2. To compare these measures between healthy controls (HCs) and IBS patients. 3. To assess their correlations with IBS Symptom Severity Scale (IBS-SSS) and abdominal pain intensity and unpleasantness within 24 h of biopsies. Methods: Sigmoid colonic mucosal biopsies collected from 12 HCs (age: 34±11 yrs, 6 females [F], 6 males [M]) and 15 IBS patients (age: 34±10 yrs; including IBS-C: 5F/2M and IBS-D: 4F/4M) were processed for CLARITY procedure and single or double immunolabeling with 10 marker antibodies (Table). Z-stack confocal images with 150-200 optical sections per sample generated 3D images. Densities of NFs, EGCs and MCs, and the proximity of MCs to pan-NFs (PGP9.5 immunoreactive (ir)), extrinsic and intrinsic primary afferent fibers (SP-ir and Calb-ir, respectively) expressed as % of MCs with shortest distance (≤5.2 µm) to NFs of total MCs (PGP9.5-MC, SP-MC, Calb-MC, respectively) were quantitated using Imaris 9.7. Results: Densities of NFs, EGCs and MCs did not show significant differences between IBS and HCs, but Calb-ir and hpChAT-ir densities tended to be lower in IBS vs HCs (P=0.07, P=0.05 respectively). In IBS, VIP-ir and NPY-ir densities negatively correlated with IBS-SSS (r=-0.67, P=0.013 and r=-0.57, P=0.042 respectively) and NPY with abdominal pain unpleasantness (r=-0.71, P=0.006). Strikingly, SP-MC positively correlated with IBS-SSS (r=0.63, P=0.021; Figure), pain intensity (r=0.61, P=0.026) and unpleasantness (r=0.57, P=0.041). In IBS-D patients only, similar findings were seen showing negative correlations of VIP-ir and NPY-ir densities with IBS-SSS (r=-0.9, P=0.006 and r=-0.57, P-0.042 respectively) and a positive correlation between SP-MC and pain intensity (r=0.8, P=0.03). Conclusions: Novel 3D imaging and computerized quantitation of colonic mucosal NF densities and immune cells revealed differences between IBS and HCs and particularly significant correlations of NF densities and MCs in close proximity to sensory nerves with IBS severity and current abdominal pain scores. These findings support alterations in peripheral neuronal signaling in IBS. These measures may become potential objective markers for IBS symptom severity and therapeutic response (supported by NIH/SPARC and Ironwood).

Figure. Images of mast cells in close proximity to nerve fibers in sigmoid colonic mucosa: correlation with IBS symptom severity. A: A 3D image of human sigmoid colonic mucosal biopsy generated from Z-stack confocal images. Sensory nerve fibers (NFs) and mast cells (MCs) were double-labeled with substance P (SP, red) and tryptase (green) antibodies. B. SP immunoreactive (ir) NFs and tryptase-ir MCs were digitally traced and spot-coded in contoured mucosa with Imaris 9.7 for computational quantitation. An insert shows magnification. The shortest distance of the center of each individual spot (MCs) to the surface of NFs in 3D was measured with Imaris 9.7. C: Pearson's correlation coefficients (r) were calculated. The percentage of mast cells in close proximity (≤5.2µm) to SP-ir NFs in total MCs had a significant positive correlation with IBS-SSS in IBS-C and IBS-D patients. IBS: irritable bowel syndrome, IBS-D: IBS with diarrhea; IBS-C: IBS with constipation; IBS-SSS: IBS symptom severity scale (0-500).

Figure. Images of mast cells in close proximity to nerve fibers in sigmoid colonic mucosa: correlation with IBS symptom severity. A: A 3D image of human sigmoid colonic mucosal biopsy generated from Z-stack confocal images. Sensory nerve fibers (NFs) and mast cells (MCs) were double-labeled with substance P (SP, red) and tryptase (green) antibodies. B. SP immunoreactive (ir) NFs and tryptase-ir MCs were digitally traced and spot-coded in contoured mucosa with Imaris 9.7 for computational quantitation. An insert shows magnification. The shortest distance of the center of each individual spot (MCs) to the surface of NFs in 3D was measured with Imaris 9.7. C: Pearson's correlation coefficients (r) were calculated. The percentage of mast cells in close proximity (≤5.2µm) to SP-ir NFs in total MCs had a significant positive correlation with IBS-SSS in IBS-C and IBS-D patients. IBS: irritable bowel syndrome, IBS-D: IBS with diarrhea; IBS-C: IBS with constipation; IBS-SSS: IBS symptom severity scale (0-500).

<b>Table. Marker antibodies selected for immunolabeling nerve fibers, enteric glial cells and mast cells </b>

Table. Marker antibodies selected for immunolabeling nerve fibers, enteric glial cells and mast cells

Honghui Liang

Appearances