Leslie Donato, Ph.D., Discusses New Lab Testing Options to Evaluate IBS-D Patients

By Kelley Luedke • December 29, 2017

Share this:

Leslie Donato, Ph.D., Consultant in Cardiovascular Laboratory Medicine and Clinical Core Laboratory at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, recently authored an article in Medical Lab Management on new laboratory testing options to evaluate irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea (IBS-D) patients.

IBS-D is diagnosed using the Rome IV criteria and consists exclusively of patient symptoms including weekly recurrent abdominal pain in the last three months accompanied by at least two of the following:

• Pain during defecation
• Change in frequency of stool
• Change in form or appearance of stool

Given these non-specific factors, patient sequelae from several other non-IBS conditions tend to fit the Rome IV criteria, including viral or parasitic infections, intestinal inflammatory disease, celiac disease, and steatorrhea. Therefore, these must be ruled out before confirming IBS.

For each of these non-IBS conditions, specific laboratory tests and treatments are available. However, there are few targeted laboratory tests to either diagnose IBS or subcategorize IBS patients into effective treatment groups. 

Dr. Donato discusses a variety of tests, including the fecal BA test and the 7aC4 serum test. Read the full article for more information about these tests.

Kelley Luedke

Kelley Luedke is a Marketing Channel Manager at Mayo Clinic Laboratories. She is the principle editor and writer of Insights and leads social media and direct marketing strategy. Kelley has worked at Mayo Clinic since 2013. Outside of work, you can find Kelley running, traveling, playing with her kitty, and exploring new foods.