Nodular lymphoid hyperplasia: A marker of low-grade inflammation in irritable bowel syndrome?

Table 1 Symptomatic patients’ characteristics

	All patients			s-NLH			s-no-NLH			p (s-NLH vs s-no-NLH)
	s-NLH	s-no-NLH	p (s-NLH vs s-no-NLH)	F	O	p (F vs O)	F	O	p (F vs O)	F	O
Average years of age (mean ± SD)	41 ± 14	53 ± 12	< 0.051	40 ± 13	42 ± 16	NS1	49 ± 12	60 ± 10	< 0.051	< 0.051	< 0.051
Female sex	85%	68%	NS2	92%	73%	< 0.052	70%	64%	NS2	< 0.052	NS2
Abdominal pain	91%	83%	NS2	91%	92%	NS2	80%	89%	NS2	< 0.052	NS2
Bloating	72%	37%	< 0.052	78%	63%	NS2	30%	49%	< 0.052	< 0.052	NS2
Diarrhoea	65%	26%	< 0.052	63%	70%	NS2	26%	26%	NS2	< 0.052	< 0.052
Constipation	17%	36%	< 0.052	19%	14%	NS2	38%	34%	NS2	< 0.052	< 0.052
Mixed bowel habits	18%	34%	NS2	19%	16%	NS2	37%	27%	NS2	< 0.052	NS2
Polyps	24%	45%	< 0.052	23%	24%	NS2	42%	52%	NS2	< 0.052	< 0.052
Haematochezia	23%	40%	NS2	18%	32%	NS2	41%	37%	NS2	< 0.052	NS2
Inflammation	45%	28%	NS2	39%	54%	< 0.052	16%	49%	< 0.052	< 0.052	NS2
Metal contact dermatitis	74%	6%	< 0.052	66%	77%	NS2	7%	5%	NS2	< 0.052	< 0.052
Lactose intolerance	63%	28%	< 0.052	38%	77%	< 0.052	26%	32%	NS2	< 0.052	< 0.052

Patients were divided into two main groups: s-NLH (with nodular lymphoid hyperplasia, 1^st column) and no-NLH (without nodular lymphoid hyperplasia, 2^nd column). Each group was further stratified into functional disease (F, 4^th and 7^th column respectively) and organic disorder (O, 5^th and 8^th column respectively). P values obtained by means of t-test (¹) or χ² test (²) between the various patients’ subsets are indicated in columns 3, 6, 9, 10 and 11. NS: Non significant.

Table 2 Final diagnosis in symptomatic patients with organic disorders

Organic disorders	s-no-NLH	s-NLH	P value
Diverticular disease	70%	19%	< 0.05
Colon cancer	4%	3%	NS
Infections	3%	24%	< 0.05
IBD	7%	43%	< 0.05
Abdominal adhesions	16%	0%	< 0.05
Others	0%	12%	< 0.05

No-NLH: Patients without evidence of nodular lymphoid hyperplasia; NLH: Patients with evidence of nodular lymphoid hyperplasia; IBD: Inflammatory bowel disease; NS: Not significant. The last column enlists the P value obtained from the comparison between no-NLH and NLH cases, by means of t-test.