CAN UROGENITAL INFECTION BE CONSIDERED AS ONE OF THE ETIOLOGICAL FACTORS OF CHRONIC IDIOPATHIC CONSTIPATION?

Abstract

This article provides information about a research study aimed at investigating changes in the number of goblet cells in the colon of patients with idiopathic chronic constipation (ICC) associated with urogenital chlamydiasis (UGC). The study included 21 women with ICC and UGC (mean age – 33 ± 4,2 years) and 21 women with ICC without UGC (control group, mean age 35 ± 4,4 years). UGC was diagnosed by ELISA detecting IgM and IgG antibodies. In the main group, histological evaluation of resected colonic specimens was performed, while in controls, biopsy samples from the left colon and rectum were obtained during colonoscopy. In patients with ICC + UGC, goblet cell counts in the mucosa of the descending colon were found to be low (1–4%) in 90.5% of cases, with a maximum of 20 crypts. In ICC cases without UGC, similar low values were observed in only 19% of patients. In the control group, goblet cell counts were found to be as high as 49% in 62% of cases across 20 crypts, and in 19% of cases, more than 50 cells were observed. Similar changes were also confirmed in the sigmoid colon.