Food allergies, bacterial and viral infections, and a host of other causes can inflame the gastrointestinal tract. Milk products, egg and wheat are common food allergens that can lead to irritable bowel syndrome and enterocolitis, or inflammation of the colon and small intestine. Although it is difficult to identify a cause of gastrointestinal inflammation, diet restrictions and probiotics offer relief from many its symptoms.
Food Allergies
Food allergies are a leading cause of irritable bowel syndrome, an inflammation of the colon characterized by chronic abdominal pain, according to an article in the August 2010 issue of “Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.” Researchers designed an essay to test for the presence of three proteins used as markers for diagnosis of IBS in fecal samples of 210 individuals: 60 with IBS, 40 with other gastrointestinal illnesses and 50 healthy controls. Participants were placed on an elimination diet -- which excluded cow’s milk, wheat, egg, tomato and chocolate -- and were monitored for four weeks. The study found that 25 percent of patients with IBS had food allergies, as detected by the presence of protein markers in stool samples.
Probiotics
Probiotics are naturally occurring microorganisms that colonize the gastrointestinal tract and help to maintain good health through a balance on nonpathogenic bacteria. A study in the November 2010 issue of “Beneficial Microbes” stated that the probiotics lactobacilli and bifidobacteria could effectively modulate gastrointestinal inflammation by replenishing gut microflora, or intestinal bacteria. The authors noted that probiotic usage was especially effective in treating children with antibiotic-resistant diarrhea and those with traveler’s diarrhea, colitis and necrotizing enterocolitis.
Bowel Irritation
Constant consumption of foods producing bowel irritation may resolve symptoms of gastrointestinal inflammation, according to a study in the June 2011 issue of “Molecular Nutrition & Food Research.” In this study, researchers developed a mouse model with an egg-white food allergy to study the effects of allergenic foods on gastrointestinal inflammation. However, they found that with continuous feeding of egg whites, the mice became resistant to the allergen. The authors stated that their mouse model presents a useful tool to study food-induced intestinal allergies in patients.
Infantile Gastrointestinal Inflammation
Eosinophils are white blood cells present in inflamed tissue as important mediators of allergic reactions. A study in the June 2011 issue of the “International Archive of Allergy and Immunology” described the role of eosinophils in gastrointestinal inflammation in five Japanese infants diagnosed with enterocolitis. Of the five patients, three were diagnosed with eosinophilic colitis, where the physicians were unable to identify a cause of the condition in the other two. The study concluded that causes of gastrointestinal inflammation vary and close observation is important in infants with this disorder.
References
- “International Archives of Allergy and Immunology”; Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disorders in Infants -- A Japanese Case Series; Y. Yamada, et al.; June 2011
- “Molecular Nutrition & Food Research”; Oral Tolerance Induction Does Not Resolve Gastrointestinal Inflammation in a Mouse Model of Food Allergy; M. Burggraf, et al.; June 2011
- “Beneficial Microbes”; Probiotics in the Management of Children with Allergy and Other Disorders of Intestinal Inflammation; J. Vanderhoof, et al.; November 2010
- “Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology”; Fecal Assays Detect Hypersensitivity to Cow's Milk Protein and Gluten in Adults with Irritable Bowel Syndrome; A. Carroccio, et al.; August 2010
