Figure 2.

The plasma levels of IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α in healthy controls (HC) and diarrhoea-predominant IBS (D-IBS) patients categorised as having normal or increased s-IP. D-IBS patients with a lactulose to mannitol ratio equal to or higher than 0.035 were categorised as D-IBS(+) and patients with a ratio value lower than 0.035 as D-IBS(−). Data are reported as box and whiskers representing 10–90 percentile. Kruskal-Wallis test and Dunn's multiple comparison test were used for the statistical analysis. Box and whiskers not showing a common letter differ significantly (p < 0.05).