[Role of gut hormones in irritable bowel syndrome]

In irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), motility disturbances occur from the upper gastrointestinal tract to the distal colon, where regulatory peptides have a wide-spread distribution. Studies on basal and postprandial plasma levels of different gut hormones show that VIP, CCK, and motilin may be closely related to the symptoms including abdominal pain, diarrhea and constipation. In addition, peptide YY and NPY have effects on absorption in the intestine, and some opioid peptides exert actions on colonic motility in IBS patients. Recent studies revealed that gall bladder in IBS has an abnormal sensitivity to CCK-8, indicating that IBS patients has an generalized abnormality of the smooth muscle of the digestive tract. Gut hormones, which act as hormones, neurotransmitters and neuromodulators depending on their releasing site, may therefore play an important role in IBS patients.