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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Oct 28, 2015; 21(40): 11371-11378
Published online Oct 28, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i40.11371
Role of environmental pollution in irritable bowel syndrome
Mateusz Marynowski, Aleksandra Likońska, Hubert Zatorski, Jakub Fichna
Mateusz Marynowski, Aleksandra Likońska, Hubert Zatorski, Jakub Fichna, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Lodz, 92-215 Lodz, Poland
Jakub Fichna, Mossakowski Medical Research Centre, Polish Academy of Sciences, 02091 Warsaw, Poland
Author contributions: Zatorski H and Fichna J designed the study; Marynowski M, Likońska A and Zatorski H wrote the manuscript; Zatorski H and Fichna J revised the manuscript.
Supported by Medical University of Lodz, No. 503/1-156-04/503-01 (to JF); National Science Center, No. UMO-2013/11/B/NZ7/01301 and No. UMO-2014/13/B/NZ4/01179 (to JF); the Iuventus Plus program of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, No. 0107/IP1/2013/72 (to JF); Diamentowy grant program of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education No. 0202/DIA/2015/44 (to H.Z.); and bilateral cooperation between Poland and China.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no competing interests.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Jakub Fichna, PhD, DSc, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Lodz, Mazowiecka 6/8, 92-215 Lodz, Poland. jakub.fichna@umed.lodz.pl
Telephone: +48-42-2725707 Fax: +48-42-2725694
Received: April 22, 2015
Peer-review started: April 23, 2015
First decision: July 13, 2015
Revised: July 28, 2015
Accepted: September 13, 2015
Article in press: September 14, 2015
Published online: October 28, 2015
Processing time: 184 Days and 4.4 Hours
Abstract

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), with the prevalence of 10%-20 % of the population has become an emerging problem worldwide. IBS is a functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorder characterized by abdominal pain or discomfort and altered bowel habits. The etiology of IBS contains genetic, psychological, and immunological factors, and has not been fully elucidated; of note, recent studies also point at environmental pollution and its role in the development of functional GI diseases. In this review we focus on several environmental factors, such as bacterial contamination, air pollution, radiation and even stress as potential triggers of IBS. We discuss associated disturbances in homeostasis, such as changes in intestinal microbiome and related pathophysiological mechanisms. Based on the effect of environmental factors on the GI tract, we also propose novel targets in IBS treatment.

Keywords: Irritable bowel syndrome; Environmental pollution; Air pollution; Stress; Post infectious irritable bowel syndrome

Core tip: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by abdominal pain or discomfort and altered bowel habits. The etiology of IBS has not been fully elucidated; however, recent studies point at environmental pollution and its role in the development of IBS. Here we focus on several environmental factors, such as bacterial contamination, air pollution, radiation and even stress as potential triggers of IBS; we also propose novel targets in IBS treatment.