Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32961343›Full record

ArticleClinical gastroenterology and hepatology : the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association2021

Activation of the Innate Immune System in Children With Irritable Bowel Syndrome Evidenced by Increased Fecal Human β-Defensin-2.

Robert J Shulman, Sridevi Devaraj, Margaret Heitkemper

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical gastroenterology and hepatology : the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 18% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. MRGPRX2 Mediates Mast Cell-Induced Endometriosis Pain Through the Sensitization of Sensory Neurons via Histamine/HRH1/TRPV1 Signaling Pathway.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Mechanisms and regulation of defensins in host defense.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2023
    Review
  9. Review
  10. Review
  11. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Robert J ShulmanDepartment of Pediatrics; Children's Nutrition Research Center; Texas Children's Hospital; Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. Electronic address: rshulman@bcm.edu.
Sridevi DevarajTexas Children's Hospital; Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas; Department of Pathology and Immunology.
Margaret HeitkemperUniversity of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
Baylor College of Medicine · USUniversity of Washington · US

Funding

Tissue Analysis & Molecular Imaging CoreP30DK056338 · NIDDK · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · PI James Versalovic · 2001 to 2026
$28.3M
PATHWAYS TO NEW BIOMARKERS IN RECURRENT ABDOMINAL PAIN IN CHILDRENR01NR013497 · NINR · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · PI SAVIDGE, TOR C. · 2012 to 2024
$4.7M
Recurrent Abdominal Pain in ChildrenR01NR005337 · NINR · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · PI SHULMAN, ROBERT J · 2002 to 2012
$4.3M
NIDDK NIH HHS P30 DK056338NINR NIH HHS R01 NR005337NINR NIH HHS R01 NR013497
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND &

aimsThe role of the innate immune system in functional gastrointestinal pain disorders is unclear. We investigated the role of β-defensin-2 and gut permeability in childhood irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and functional abdominal pain (FAP) symptom generation.

methodsFecal β-defensin-2 (and in a subset, gut permeability) was measured in children with IBS (n = 116), FAP (n = 33), and healthy control (HC) children (n = 72). IBS and FAP patients were recruited from tertiary and primary care, and HCs were recruited from primary care.

resultsβ-defensin-2 concentration was greater in children with IBS (P = .003) and FAP (P = .03) than in HCs. β-defensin-2 was greater in girls with IBS than female HCs (P = .007) and in girls with IBS vs boys with IBS (P = .036). There was no difference by sex in the FAP and HC groups. For the entire cohort, β-defensin-2 correlated with multiple pain symptoms. In the IBS group, β-defensin-2 correlated with pain interference (P = .014). No correlation with pain was found in the FAP or HC group. Gut permeability was greater in the IBS vs the FAP and HC groups (P = .038). For the entire cohort, permeability correlated with the number of pain episodes (P = .041) and interfering pain episodes (P = .049). For the entire cohort there was a correlation between β-defensin-2 and permeability (P = .003), with borderline correlation in the IBS group (P = .086). For the cohort and IBS and HC groups, the number of bowel movements was modestly inversely related to fecal β-defensin-2 concentrations.

conclusionsIncreased fecal β-defensin-2 concentration in children with IBS suggests activation of the innate immune system in some, which, along with increased gut permeability, appears related to abdominal pain symptoms. Sex is an important variable in interpreting β-defensin-2 concentration in children with IBS.

Indexed as

beta-DefensinsIrritable Bowel SyndromeAbdominal PainChildFecesFemaleHumansImmune SystemMalebeta-DefensinsFunctional Abdominal PainGastrointestinal Permeabilityβ-Defensin

Identifiers

PMID32961343
PMCPMC8041153
OpenAlexW3087699668

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.