A study of bloating symptomatology, the Role of Gastrointestinal transit and the response to treatment with the 5-HT4 Receptor Agonist in patients with bloating predominant irritable bowel syndrome

Abstract

Bloating is an important and poorly understood symptom in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Tegaserod, a 5-HT4 receptor agonist, could play a pivotal role in the intestine motility and improve the IBS related symptoms. The current studies investigated the symptoms profile and gastrointestinal transit in bloating predominant IBS in Asian population. The results showed the IBS patients from Asia have more common complaint with upper abdominal bloating associated with moderate bowel disturbance. In addition, they had higher anxiety and depression scores. By scintigraphic method, delayed small bowel transit was observed in non-diarrhea bloating predominant IBS patients compared with normal controls. Furthermore, in a randomized, double blind and controlled study, tegaserod (6mg, b.i.d) for two weeks treatment significantly alleviated bloating symptom and accelerated proximal small bowel transit in bloating predominant IBS patients compared with placebo. These results suggested that Tegaserod could provide effective treatment for non-diarrhea IBS patients with bloating.