Antiobotic shown effective for IBS

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- A two-week course of antibiotics can reduce symptoms in many patients with irritable bowel syndrome for at least 10 weeks or even longer, U.S. researchers say.

Two clinical trials of more than 1,200 patients reported Wednesday validated the idea intestinal bacteria play a role in the onset of irritable bowel syndrome, commonly known as IBS, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"This is the culmination of a 10-year journey in proving that gut bacteria are a cause of IBS," said Dr. Mark Pimentel of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, who led the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. "There has been a lot of skepticism, a lot of criticism."

The antibiotic selected for the trials, rifaximin, "has the potential to provide a welcome addition to the limited armamentarium of agents that are available to treat IBS," Dr. Jan Tack of the University of Leuven in Belgium wrote in an editorial accompanying the report.

Rifaximin is a good choice for the purpose, Tack said, because it does not leave the intestines and get into the general circulation, does not appear to promote resistance and has few, if any, side effects.

"Every other drug that has been used for IBS, once you stop, the symptoms start right back up," Pimentel said. "With this one, the patient has lasting benefits."