Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2022 Feb;9(2):132-140.
doi: 10.1002/acn3.51495. Epub 2022 Jan 29.

Multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Xuan Wang #  1 , Jian Wan #  2 , Min Wang  2 , Yujie Zhang  2   3 , Kaichun Wu  2 , Fang Yang  1
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Xuan Wang et al. Ann Clin Transl Neurol. 2022 Feb.

Abstract

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are two autoimmune diseases that seriously affect patients' quality of life. Previous studies have established an association between MS and IBD, including Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), but the results were inconsistent. The aim of this study was to quantify the prevalences of and the association between MS and IBD.

Methods: The PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases were searched through November 2020 for studies reporting data on MS among patients with IBD and vice versa. The main outcomes were the proportion of MS in patients with IBD and vice versa, as well as the association (risk ratio [RR]) of IBD in MS and that of MS in IBD.

Results: Based on the analysis of 17 studies, the prevalence of MS in patients with IBD was 0.2% (95% CI 0.1-0.4%), while the prevalence of IBD in patients with MS was 0.6% (95% CI 0.4-0.9%). Patients with MS had a higher prevalence of IBD than controls (RR = 1.53, 95% CI 1.38-1.70, p < 0.00001). There was a similarly high risk of developing CD (RR 1.41, 95% CI 1.14-1.74, p = 0.001) or UC (RR 1.42, 95% CI 1.17-1.71, p = 0.0003) in patients with MS (p for subgroup differences: 0.97). Patients with IBD had a higher prevalence of MS than controls (RR = 1.91, 95% CI 1.06-3.45, p = 0.03).

Conclusions: Clinicians should be aware of the increased risk of IBD or MS comorbidity during the diagnostic process. Systematic diagnosis and management at an earlier stage are suggested.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of the search results and study selection. [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
Figure 2
Figure 2
Analysis of the prevalence of multiple sclerosis in patients with IBD compared to controls, and vice versa. IBD, inflammatory bowel disease; MS, multiple sclerosis.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Subgroup analysis on the prevalence of Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis in patients with multiple sclerosis compared to controls.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Browne P, Chandraratna D, Angood C, et al. Atlas of multiple sclerosis 2013: a growing global problem with widespread inequity. Neurology. 2014;83:1022‐1024. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Thompson AJ, Baranzini SE, Geurts J, Hemmer B, Ciccarelli O. Multiple sclerosis. Lancet. 2018;391:1622‐1636. - PubMed
    1. Ananthakrishnan AN. Epidemiology and risk factors for IBD. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2015;12:205‐217. - PubMed
    1. Kaplan GG, Ng SC. Understanding and preventing the global increase of inflammatory bowel disease. Gastroenterology. 2017;152:313‐321.e2. - PubMed
    1. Gupta G, Gelfand JM, Lewis JD. Increased risk for demyelinating diseases in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Gastroenterology. 2005;129:819‐826. - PubMed

Publication types