Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Healthy Subjects and Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Inclusion criteria

• for Healthy subjects :
• Healthy women and men free-living subject aged from 18 to 65 years.
• Subject with a body mass index between 18 and 30, bounds included.
• Subject having given written consent to take part in the study.
• Chronic medical treatment-free excluding contraceptive and stable Hormonal Replacement Therapy
• for IBS Patients :
• IBS women and men free-living subject aged from 18 to 65 years
• Subject with a diagnosis of IBS according to Rome III criteria: recurrent abdominal pain or discomfort at least 3 days per month in the last 3 months associated with 2 or more of the following: improvement with defecation; onset associated with a change in frequency of stool; onset associated with a change in form (appearance) of stool.
• Subject with a diagnosis of IBS according to Rome III criteria with symptom onset at least 6 months prior to diagnosis.
• Subject having an IBS-SSS score higher or equal to 75 corresponding to an active phase of IBS symptoms.
• Subject having given written consent to take part in the study.

Exclusion criteria

• for Healthy subjects :
• Subject who, in the past, has consulted a general practitioner or a gastroenterologist for (IBS) or any other functional bowel disease including constipation and diarrhoea.
• Subject with known organic disease, including an inflammatory bowel disease, a benign or malign tumour of intestine or colon and significant systemic disease
• Subject treated with any chronic medical treatment that, in the investigator's opinion could interfere with the GI tract.
• Subject who underwent general anaesthesia in the preceding 4 weeks.
• Pregnant subject or breast-feeding subject at the time of the study.
• Subject with known immunosuppression
• Subject with any known food allergy
• Subject involved in any other clinical study within the preceding month or in exclusion period after another clinical study.
• Subject in a situation, which in the investigator's opinion could interfere with optimal participation in the present study or could constitute a special risk for the subject.
• Subject not able to read, to understand and/or to answer to the questionnaires.
• for IBS Patients :
• If a subject fulfils with one of the following criteria, he/she must be excluded from the study:
• Subject with a diagnosis of IBS with clinical signs of alarm (rectorragy, fever, associated inflammatory articular signs, recent weight loss).
• Subject with known organic disease, including an inflammatory bowel disease, a benign or malign tumour of intestine or colon and significant systemic disease.
• Subject who underwent general anaesthesia in the preceding 4 weeks.
• Pregnant subject or breast-feeding subject at the time of the study.
• Subject involved in any other clinical study within the preceding month or in exclusion period after another clinical study.
• Taking antidepressant or analgesic drugs.
• Subject not able to read, to understand and/or to answer to the questionnaires.