Comparison of faecal microbiota in Blastocystis-positive and Blastocystis-negative irritable bowel syndrome patients

Table 1 Characteristics of clinical subgroups

	IBS-P	IBS-N	HC-P	HC-N
	(n = 26)	(n = 13)	(n = 42)	(n = 13)
Age
(mean ± sd)	45.6 ± 13.6	45.8 ± 14.0	41.8 ± 15.6	41.2 ± 13.4
Female (n, %)	20 (76.9)	10 (76.9)	15 (38.5)	9 (69.2)
Blastocystis subtypes (n, %)
ST1	5 (19.2)		12 (28.6)
ST3	8 (30.8)		12 (28.6)
ST4	7 (26.9)		6 (14.3)
Other subtypes (including ST2,5–8)	6 (23.1)		7 (28.6)
Medications (n, %)
Subjects on PPI/H₂Bl	7 (27 %)	4 (29 %)
Nil or OCP only	14 (54 %)	4 (29 %)

IBS-P patients with irritable bowel syndrome positive for Blastocystis, IBS-N patients with irritable bowel syndrome negative for Blastocystis, HC-P healthy controls positive for Blastocystis, HC-N healthy controls negative for Blastocystis, PPI proton pump inhibitor therapy, H ₂ Bl histamine 2 blocker therapy, OCP oral contraceptive pill

ISSN: 2049-2618