Paroxetine to treat irritable bowel syndrome not responding to high-fiber diet: a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Objectives: The purpose of the trial was to determine whether a high-fiber diet (HFD) alone or in combination with paroxetine or placebo was effective treatment for patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Design: Trial of HFD alone (Group 1) followed by a randomized, double-blind trial of HFD with paroxetine or placebo (Group 2).

Setting: Gastroenterology office in a 524-bed university-affiliated community hospital in Pittsburgh.

Preliminary study of ciprofloxacin in active Crohn's disease.

Based on limited reports of the successful use of antibiotics in the treatment of Crohn's disease (CD) and on the possibility that intestinal bacteria may be one of the etiologic factors playing a role in the pathogenesis of this condition, we undertook a study to evaluate the use of a broad-spectrum antibiotic in CD. Our team studied the efficacy of adding the antibiotic ciprofloxacin to the treatment of moderately active, but resistant cases of CD. Forty-seven adults with moderately active CD were randomly assigned treatment with ciprofloxacin 500 mg twice daily versus placebo twice daily for 6 months.