Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is the most common functional bowel disorder with a prevalence of 10-15% in the population. The symptoms are abdominal pain and bloating in combination with altered bowel habits, without organic, pathognomonic changes. The etiology and pathophysiology are unknown, but suspected to be multifactorial. The treatment is symptomatic and exclusion of diet with high content of fermentable carbohydrates. The research cohorts are very heterogeneous, which make findings from one cohort difficult to replicate in another cohort. The primary purpose of our program is to identify histopathological and biological alterations, making it possible to identify subgroups of diseases with different etiology and pathophysiology. A better description of patients with IBS would improve the scientific field about etiology, but also about individual treatments. We are going to examine the bowel wall and its related enteric nervous system (ENS) with histopathological and immunochemical examination. We are also trying to identify patient characteristics in IBS patients who respond to a dietary intervention with less carbohydrates.

Endometriosis is a common gynecological disease with a prevalence of 7-10%. Gastrointestinal symptoms are almost as common as gynecological symptoms. We are trying to identify whether the gastrointestinal symptoms are a part of endometriosis, or depends on a concomitant IBS disease.