WP 2 Case-control recruitment and follow-up

This WP, led by Dr. Magnus Simrén (UGOT) and Dr. Amanda Rogríguez (VHIR), aims to provide a thorough and unique clinical characterization of IBS patients and to identify patterns of lifestyle and environmental factors related with IBS and associated comorbidities. DISCOvERIE will characterize the overlap between gastrointestinal and mental and non-mental comorbid conditions, first, by analysing already existing IBS and psychiatric databases and, second by recruiting a large prospective cohort (cross-sectional) of IBS patients (n=600), with and without mental and non-mental comorbidities, as well as different combinations of disease controls and health. From the cross-sectional cohort, potential risk factors and clinical symptoms, using a multilingual digital platform, will be recorded and blood, colonic biopsies, faeces and urine will be collected. Half of the patients (n=300) from the cross-sectional cohort, will be longitudinally followed up for a maximum of 3 years. During the follow-up, clinical symptoms will also be obtained, and blood, urine and faeces collected (longitudinal study). The obtention of these samples will be key for experimental procedures in DISCOvERIE (to be performed in WP3-7), to unravel shared mechanisms of brain-gut-microbiota axis dysfunction. WP2 will identify distinctive clinical cohorts based on comorbidities, clinical severity, sex/gender balance and life-style patterns. The main output of this WP will be the development of structured clinical guidelines to manage IBS.