Characterisation of faecal protease activity in irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhoea: origin and effect of gut transit

Objectives

Faecal serine proteases (FSPs) may play a role in irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhoea (IBS-D), but their origin is unclear. We aimed to structurally characterise them and define the impact of colonic cleansing and transit time.

Design

Faecal samples were obtained from 30 healthy volunteers (HV) and 79 patients with IBS-D participating in a trial of ondansetron versus placebo. Colonic transit was measured using...