Mechanistic understanding of the cause and time course of comorbid symptoms for patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are lacking. This paper describes how colitis triggers hypersensitivity of colonic afferents, neuroplasticity of spinal cord circuits, and chronic abdominal pain, which persists after inflammation. The data supports the concepts that cross-organ sensitization underlies the development and maintenance of visceral co-morbidities, while pharmaceutical treatments that inhibit colonic afferents may also improve urological symptoms through common sensory pathways.

PUBLICATION: JCI Insight (2018)

AUTHORS: Luke Grundy, Andrea M. Harrington, Joel Castro, Sonia Garcia-Caraballo, Annemie Deiteren, Jessica Maddern, Grigori Y. Rychkov, Pei Ge, Stefanie Peters, Robert Feil, Paul Miller, Andre Ghetti, Gerhard Hannig, Caroline B. Kurtz, Inmaculada Silos-Santiago and Stuart M. Brierley