Takeshi Kamiya, Michiko Shikano, Mamoru Tanaka, Keiji Ozeki, Masahide Ebi, Takahito Katano, Shingo Hamano, Hirotaka Nishiwaki, Hironobu Tsukamoto, TsutomuMizoshita, Yoshinori Mori, Eiji Kubota, Satoshi Tanida, Hiromi Kataoka, Noriaki Okuda, and Takashi Joh
Department of Gastroenterology and Metabolism, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kawasumi, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 457-0036, Japan
Okuda Naika Clinic, 2-9-3 Hinata-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-0047, Japan
Correspondence should be addressed to Takeshi Kamiya; kamitake@med.nagoya-cu.ac.jp
Received 15 January 2014; Revised 5 July 2014; Accepted 16 July 2014; Published 5 August 2014
Academic Editor: Jiande Chen
Copyright© 2014 Takeshi Kamiya et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative CommonsAttribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Background. Recently, it was revealed that low grade mucosal inflammation and/or immune imbalance of the lower digestive tract is one of the mechanisms involved in symptom generation in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Biobran, arabinoxylan compound derived from rice bran, has been reported to have several biological actions such as anti-inflammatory and immune modulatory effects. So we investigated the therapeutic effects of Biobran in patients with IBS. Method. Forty patientswith diarrhea predominant or mixed type IBS were randomly assigned to either a Biobran group for treatment with Biobran or a placebo group.
Therapeutic efficacy and IBS symptoms were assessed subjectively by the patients after 4 weeks of administration. Results. The global assessment was effective in 63.2% of the Biobran group and in 30% of the placebo group ( < 0.05, Biobran group versus placebo group). Biobran group showed a significant decrease in the score of diarrhea and constipation and in CRP value. However, no significant changes were observed in the placebo group. Conclusion.The administration of Biobran improved IBS symptoms. It is likely that anti-inflammatory and/or immune modulatory effects of Biobran might be useful in IBS patients.