Article Information Background and Aim: Despite the frequency with which IBS is encountered in clinical practice, it remains an important medical problem for both health care providers and patients. Unfortunately, so far no single treatment option has been effective for managing IBS. Therefore we decided to Comparison of the plant Plantago major and the drug Colofac on clinical symptoms in IBS patients. Method of investigation: This study was done as a double-blinded clinical trial in Aug 2014

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... ntil Nov 2014. 51 patients (male and female) were included in the study after considerations of inclusion and exclution criteria. Diagnosis of IBS was based on Rome II Criteria and organic causes were ruled out. Patients were divided randomly into the two groups, A and B. In the first visit, all patients were observed for two weeks without any medication. Patients in group A were given a 4.5 g dose of powdered plantago plant per day in two administrations, (2 hours before eating lunch and dinner) in the form of an oral capsule. Patients in Group B received a Colofac capsule (200 mg) morning and night for 3 months. Patients in both groups were visited for an examination to evaluate their condition in terms of diarrhea, constipation, number of defecations. Visits and examinations were made every week in the first month and every two weeks in the second month plus one at the end of the third month. Data were further analyzed by SPSS-17 software and statistical test of chi-square was done, and a repeated measure. Findings: Evaluations for number of days of diarrheal defecation per day show significant difference at each visit in repeated measurements; however, average of the descending trend for number of days of diarrheal defecation showed no significant difference between the two therapeutic methods. The effectiveness of plantago in reducing numbers of diarrheal defecations in a day was higher than that of Colofac. number of defecations per week showed no significant difference in relation to each of the visits in repeated measures. However, there was no significant difference between the two treatments in terms of the mean of descending trend of number of defecations during a week, although the effectiveness of plantago in for reducing the number of defecations per week was greater than that of Colofac. Conclusion: The present study is the clinical trial to Comparison of the plant Plantago major and the drug Colofac on clinical symptoms in IBS patients. Our study demonstrated that two therapeutic methods are effective in the management of IBS symptoms, although the effectiveness of plantago was greater than that of Colofac. IBS is a functional bowel disorder characterized by abdominal pain, malaise, bloating, bowel disorders, and changes in bowel movements (1-5). No particular organ has been identified causing of the disease. Several systems are involved, and it seems that its pathobiology is associated with multiple factors. Visceral hyper-