Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a disorder with multifactorial pathophysiology. Intestinal barrier may be altered, especially in diarrhea-predominant IBS (IBS-D). Several mediators may contribute to increased intestinal permeability in IBS.

We aimed to assess effects of tryptase and LPS on in vitro permeability using a 3-dimensional cell model after basolateral cell exposure. Furthermore, we assessed the extent to which these mediators in IBS plasma play a role in intestinal barrier function.

Caco-2 cells were grown in extracellular matrix to develop into polarized spheroids and were exposed to tryptase (10 - 50 mU), LPS (1 - 50 ng/mL) and two-fold diluted plasma samples of 7 patients with IBS-D, 7 with constipation-predominant IBS (IBS-C) and 7 healthy controls (HC). Barrier function was assessed by the flux of FITC-dextran (FD4) using live cell imaging. Furthermore, plasma tryptase and LPS were determined.

Tryptase (20 and 50 mU) and LPS (6.25 – 50 ng/mL) significantly increased Caco-2 permeability versus control (all P< 0.05). Plasma of IBS-D only showed significantly elevated median tryptase concentrations (7.1 [3.9 – 11.0] vs. 4.2 [2.2 – 7.0] vs. 4.2 [2.5 – 5.9] μg/mL; P<0.05) and LPS concentrations (3.65 [3.00 – 6.10] vs. 3.10 [2.60-3.80] vs. 2.65 [2.40 – 3.40] EU/ml; P< 0.05) vs. IBS-C and HC. Also, plasma of IBS-D increased Caco-2 permeability versus HC (0.14450 ± 0.00472 vs. 0.00021 ± 0.00003; P < 0.001), which was attenuated by selective inhibition of tryptase and LPS (P< 0.05).

Basolateral exposure of spheroids to plasma of IBS-D patients resulted in a significantly increased FD4 permeation, which was partially abolished by selective inhibition of tryptase and LPS. These findings point to a role of systemic tryptase and LPS in the epithelial barrier alterations observed in patients with IBS-D.