Psychological Resilience and Mental Wellbeing Mitigate the Risk of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Comorbidities between mental disorders and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) have been widely reported, yet associations between mental wellbeing and IBS, particularly regarding underlying genetic modification and proteomic signatures, remain underexplored.

This prospective cohort study analyzed 75,842 IBS-free participants aiming to investigate the prospective association between mental wellbeing and the risk of IBS in UK Biobank. Mental wellbeing was assessed through life satisfaction, positive affect, neuroticism, and depressive/anxiety symptoms. Cox models evaluate the hazard ratio (HR) for mental wellbeing and plasma proteome in relation to incident IBS during follow-up. Proteomic profiling identified mental wellbeing-associated proteins, with pathway enrichment analysis revealing biological mechanisms. Mediation and Mendelian randomization analyses further examine intermediate pathways and causality.

With a 12.4-year follow-up period, 1,400 cases of incident IBS were documented. Better mental wellbeing mitigated IBS risk dose-dependently (low risk group: HR, 0.37; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.31-0.43). Higher life satisfaction (HR, 0.41; 95% CI: 0.30-0.56) and positive affect (HR, 0.50; 95% CI: 0.41-0.62) were inversely associated with IBS risk, whereas neuroticism (HR, 2.35; 95% CI: 1.92-2.88) and depressive/anxiety symptoms (HR, 3.09; 95% CI: 2.17-4.42) increased the risk. Findings remained consistent in across prevalent IBS and IBS subtypes. Mental wellbeing effects were independent of genetic predisposition. Mediation analyses revealed about 27% of protective effect of mental wellbeing were mediated through reduced depression and anxiety. Mendelian randomization supports causal protective effects of positive mental wellbeing on IBS. Proteomic profiling identified mental wellbeing-associated proteins mainly enriched in cytokine-cytokine receptor interactions. Chromogranin A and gastrin emerged as key protein biomarkers, showing significant associations with both mental wellbeing components and IBS risk.

Our study demonstrates that enhanced mental wellbeing confers substantial protection against IBS development, highlighting psychological interventions as potential primary prevention strategies.