Researchers from Australia-based Adelaide Medical School believe irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea is exhausting patient's T-cells, Science Daily reports.
Here's what you should know:
1. The researchers followed a group of patients with IBS for a year, comparing blood samples between when patients had symptoms and were symptom free.
2. The researchers found the patients with IBS-D all had "exhausted" T-cells.
3. The exhausted cells are less responsive to stimulation. They release fewer mediators and divide less. The researchers compared the response to what's present in chronic infections.
4. Researchers believe this is the first time T-cell exhaustion was documented in IBS-D patients.