Background/Aims: In recent years, the presence of alexithymia in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has gained more attention, and several studies have evaluated this relationship. However, no clear conclusion has been reported yet. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to better understand the association between IBS and alexithymia. Methods: We performed a systematic search on the medical databases PubMed, EMBASE, and Scopus using predefined keywords to identify observational studies assessing the association between IBS and alexithymia. The included studies diagnosed IBS using the Rome criteria, and alexithymia was evaluated using the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) score. We used The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale to evaluate the quality of included studies. The primary summary outcome was the mean difference in TAS-20 scores. Results: We included 7 studies involving 1,513 individuals in our qualitative analysis, with 6 of them included in our quantitative analysis. All studies were considered to be of satisfactory quality according to the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale criteria. We found significantly higher TAS-20 scores in IBS patients compared to controls (8.063 [95% CI, 2.554-13.572]). However, no significant mean difference in TAS-20 scores was observed in IBS vs inflammatory bowel disease patients (0.884 [95% CI – 2.536-4.304]). Conclusions We demonstrated that IBS is associated with an increased risk of developing alexithymia. However, our study did not show a significant difference in TAS-20 scores between patients with IBS compared to inflammatory bowel disease.

Background/Aims: In recent years, the presence of alexithymia in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has gained more attention, and several studies have evaluated this relationship. However, no clear conclusion has been reported yet. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to better understand the association between IBS and alexithymia. Methods: We performed a systematic search on the medical databases PubMed, EMBASE, and Scopus using predefined keywords to identify observational studies assessing the association between IBS and alexithymia. The included studies diagnosed IBS using the Rome criteria, and alexithymia was evaluated using the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) score. We used The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale to evaluate the quality of included studies. The primary summary outcome was the mean difference in TAS-20 scores. Results: We included 7 studies involving 1,513 individuals in our qualitative analysis, with 6 of them included in our quantitative analysis. All studies were considered to be of satisfactory quality according to the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale criteria. We found significantly higher TAS-20 scores in IBS patients compared to controls (8.063 [95% CI, 2.554-13.572]). However, no significant mean difference in TAS-20 scores was observed in IBS vs inflammatory bowel disease patients (0.884 [95% CI – 2.536-4.304]). Conclusions We demonstrated that IBS is associated with an increased risk of developing alexithymia. However, our study did not show a significant difference in TAS-20 scores between patients with IBS compared to inflammatory bowel disease.

Background/Aims: In recent years, the presence of alexithymia in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has gained more attention, and several studies have evaluated this relationship. However, no clear conclusion has been reported yet. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to better understand the association between IBS and alexithymia. Methods: We performed a systematic search on the medical databases PubMed, EMBASE, and Scopus using predefined keywords to identify observational studies assessing the association between IBS and alexithymia. The included studies diagnosed IBS using the Rome criteria, and alexithymia was evaluated using the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) score. We used The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale to evaluate the quality of included studies. The primary summary outcome was the mean difference in TAS-20 scores. Results: We included 7 studies involving 1,513 individuals in our qualitative analysis, with 6 of them included in our quantitative analysis. All studies were considered to be of satisfactory quality according to the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale criteria. We found significantly higher TAS-20 scores in IBS patients compared to controls (8.063 [95% CI, 2.554-13.572]). However, no significant mean difference in TAS-20 scores was observed in IBS vs inflammatory bowel disease patients (0.884 [95% CI – 2.536-4.304]). Conclusions We demonstrated that IBS is associated with an increased risk of developing alexithymia. However, our study did not show a significant difference in TAS-20 scores between patients with IBS compared to inflammatory bowel disease.

Background/Aims: Disruptions in tight junction (TJ) protein expression leading to duodenal epithelial barrier impairment may contribute to increased intestinal permeability, potentially playing a role in functional dyspepsia (FD) pathophysiology. Currently published studies evaluated the role of several TJ proteins in FD patients with inconsistent results. Therefore, we conducted this systematic review and metaanalysis to evaluate the duodenal mucosal expression of several TJ proteins in FD. Methods: We performed a systematic electronic search on PubMed, EMBASE, and Scopus using predefined keywords. Diagnosis of FD by Rome III or Rome IV criteria was considered acceptable. Full articles satisfying our inclusion and exclusion criteria were included. The principal summary outcome was the mean difference of several TJ proteins in FD patients and control subjects. Results: A total of 8 and 5 studies were included in our qualitative and quantitative synthesis, respectively, with a total population of 666 participants, out of which 420 were FD patients. No significant differences were observed between FD patients and controls in the expression of claudin-1 (–0.102 [95% CI, –0.303, 0.099]), claudin-2 (0.161 [95% CI, –0.134, 0.456)], claudin-3 (0.278 [95% CI, –0.280, 0.837]), claudin-4 (0.045 [95% CI, –0.264, 0.354]), ZO-1 (–0.221 [95% CI, –0.683, 0.241]), ZO-2 (–0.070 [95% CI, –0.147,0.007]), ZO-3 (–0.129 [95% CI, –0.376, 0.118]), β-catenin (–0.135 [95% CI, –0.484, 0.214]), E-cadherin (–0.083 [95% CI, –0.229, 0.063]), and occludin (–0.158 [95% CI, –0.409, 0.093]). Conclusions The expressions of all evaluated proteins including claudin-1, claudin-2, claudin-3, claudin-4, ZO-1, ZO-2, ZO-3, β-catenin, E-cadherin, and occludin did not significantly differ between FD patients and controls. However, due to the limited number of included studies, results should be interpreted with caution.