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IgG-Guided Elimination Diet Beneficial for Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Feb 20, 2025.

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Feb. 20, 2025 -- Patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) on an immunoglobulin (Ig)G-guided elimination diet are more likely to have a 30 percent or greater reduction in abdominal pain intensity (API), according to a study published online Jan. 31 in Gastroenterology.

Prashant Singh, M.B.B.S., from Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor, and colleagues conducted a randomized, double-blind trial involving patients with IBS from eight centers to examine the efficacy of an elimination diet utilizing a novel IBS-specific IgG assay. A total of 238 patients positive for one or more foods on an 18-food IgG assay and with an average daily API score between 3 and 7.5 on an 11-point scale during a two-week run-in period were randomly assigned to eight weeks of either an experimental antibody-guided diet or sham diet. The modified intention-to-treat analysis included 223 patients.

The researchers found that significantly more patients in the experimental diet group than the sham diet group met the primary outcome of a ≥30 percent decrease in API for two or more of the last four weeks of the treatment period (59.6 versus 42.1 percent). Compared with the sham group, a significantly higher proportion of patients in the experimental group with constipation-predominant IBS (IBS-C) and IBS with mixed bowel habits (IBS-M) met the primary end point (67.1 versus 35.8 percent and 66 versus 29.5 percent, respectively).

"Given our promising results, a larger study, possibly focusing on IBS-C and IBS-M patients, should be considered," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, including Biomerica, which funded the study.

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Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

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Posted February 2025

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