This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Hypersensitivity, anxiety linked to pain perception in rectally applied capsaicin among IBS patients
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Patients with irritable bowel syndrome and visceral hypersensitivity to rectal distension showed increased pain perception and anxiety response when capsaicin was applied to rectal mucosa in a recent study.
The study, conducted at Leuven University, Belgium, included 48 patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS; median age, 33.3 ± 1.8 years; 68% women) and 25 healthy controls (median age, 29.6 ± 2 years; 64% women).
All participants agreed to an assessment of rectal distensions and rectal capsaicin applications. Rectal distensions were measured at 3, 9, and 21 mm Hg above minimal distension pressure to assess visceral sensitivity. All participants had capsaicin applied in random sequence to their rectal mucosa in 0.01%, 0.1%, or solvent-only doses. The visceral sensations measured on a 100-mm visual analog scale (VAS) were warmth sensation, burning, pain, and urge to defecate.
Twenty-five IBS patients were normosensitive to rectal distension; 23 others were viscerally hypersensitive (VH). The IBS patients with VH experienced significantly increased pain perception but no urge to defecate during the applications of capsaicin compared with both the IBS normosensitive and control groups.
“Although no upregulation of [transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 1] could be demonstrated, IBS patients with VH to rectal distension reveal increased pain perception and an increased anxiety response to rectal application of capsaicin,” the researchers wrote.
Disclosure: See the study for a full list of relevant financial disclosures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts