Intestinal permeability in irritable bowel syndrome. Effect of diet and sodium cromoglycate administration.

We studied 14 patients with irritable bowel syndrome for the presence of increased intestinal permeability to food antigens and their responses to diet with and without disodium cromoglycate. After a standardized oral challenge with cow milk, serum beta-lactoglobulin was increased above control values in three patients. This finding did not correlate with response to hypoallergenic diet or treatment with disodium cromoglycate for 3 weeks. However over 50% of patients improved after diet with and without DSCG (2/5 on diet only and 5/7 with disodium cromoglycate of 12 evaluable cases). Since only two patients had elevated serum IgE levels, our results suggest that intolerance rather than hypersensitivity to foods may play a role in the disease. The tests we used to identify immunologic mechanisms could not predict which patients would do better on the diet and/or the drug.