Baseline characteristics of study subjects
| HV | IBS | Hypersensitive | Normosensitive | |||
| All | Placebo | Ketotifen | Placebo | Ketotifen | ||
| N | 22 | 60 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| M:F | 7:15 (68% F) | 17:43 (72% F) | 3:12 (80%F) | 5:10 (67%F) | 5:10 (67%F) | 4:11 (73%F) |
| Age (years) Range | 30±3 20–61 | 36±2 19–65 | 34±3 20–53 | 34±3 19–61 | 40±3 21–65 | 35±3 19–58 |
| IBS-C, n (%) | – | 9 (15) | 3 (13) | 2 (13) | 2 (13) | 2 (13) |
| IBS-D, n (%) | – | 22 (37) | 5 (33) | 5 (33) | 6 (40) | 6 (40) |
| IBS-A, n (%) | – | 29 (48) | 7 (47) | 8 (53) | 7 (47) | 7 (47) |
| Duration of symptoms (years) Range | – | 7±1 0.3–27 | 7±2 1.0–20 | 8±2 0.3–27 | 6±2 0.4–20 | 5±1 1.0–22 |
| Smoker, n (%) | 4 (24) | 15 (28) | 6 (46) | 3 (27) | 3 (21) | 3 (20) |
| Allergy, n (%) | 5 (29) | 20 (36) | 8 (53) | 4 (33) | 3 (21) | 5 (33) |
| Complaints associated with food intake | – | 44 (75) | 13 (87) | 10 (67) | 9 (60) | 12 (86) |
| Complaints associated with stress | – | 34 (59) | 7 (50) | 8 (53) | 8 (53) | 11 (79) |
Data shown are mean±SEM or n (%).
IBS-D, diarrhoea-dominant irritable bowel syndrome; IBS-C, constipation-dominant irritable bowel syndrome; IBS-A, alternating constipation diarrhoea irritable bowel syndrome; HV, healthy volunteers.