The Distribution of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Subtypes, Chinese Medicine Pattern and Host-gut Microbiota Metabolic Interactions Associated With IBS Subtypes

It is a cross-sectional study to discovery the distribution of IBS subtypes who would like to seek CM treatment and their CM patterns.Serum, urine and stool samples of the participants will be collected from 400-600 IBS participants to explore the host-gut microbiota metabolic interactions associated with IBS subtypes. The primary outcome will be the distribution of IBS subtype and their CM pattern in Hong Kong population. Secondary outcomes will be the host-gut microbiota metabolic interactions associated with IBS subtypes, the relationship between CM pattern and their microbiota and metabolic profiling. The relationship between IBS subtype distribution and other predetermined factors will be assessed, including gender, age, weight, Body Mass Index (BMI), dietary habit, education, economical status, the overall and individual IBS Symptom Severity Scale (IBS-SSS), syndrome of Chinese medicine, QoL assessment and Bristol Stool Scale.For those who had fulfillment of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 Disorders-(SCID-5), the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17), Clinical Global Impression-severity (CGI-S), and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) will also be assessed. After the collection of serum, urine and stool samples, bacterial total DNA will be extracted, purified,concentrated,dried and stored for further fecal 16s rRNA sequencing analysis. A number of parameters, including serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphate (ALP) et al., will be measured in serum. Total BA and BA profiles in serum and feces will be tested as well.