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Updated: Jun 17, 2026

Chronic Salmonella Infection Induced Intestinal Fibrosis
Published on: September 22, 2019
Elevated pro-inflammatory and lipotoxic mucosal lipids characterise irritable bowel syndrome
Kajsa Kajander1, Eveliina Myllyluoma, Sinikka Kyrönpalo
1Institute of Biomedicine, Pharmacology, University of Helsinki, PO Box 63, FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland.
Aim:
To investigate the pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) by comparing the global mucosal metabolic profiles of IBS patients with those of healthy controls.
Methods:
Fifteen IBS patients fulfilling the Rome II criteria, and nine healthy volunteers were included in the study. A combined lipidomics (UPLC/MS) and metabolomics (GC x GC-TOF) approach was used to achieve global metabolic profiles of mucosal biopsies from the ascending colon.
Results:
Overall, lipid levels were elevated in patients with IBS. The most significant upregulation was seen for pro-inflammatory lysophosphatidylcholines. Other lipid groups that were significantly upregulated in IBS patients were lipotoxic ceramides, glycosphingolipids, and di- and triacylglycerols. Among the metabolites, the cyclic ester 2(3H)-furanone was almost 14-fold upregulated in IBS patients compared to healthy subjects (P = 0.03).
Conclusion:
IBS mucosa is characterised by a distinct pro-inflammatory and lipotoxic metabolic profile. Especially, there was an increase in several lipid species such as lysophospholipids and ceramides.
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