Pathophysiological concepts of functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome future pharmacotherapy

• Published in: Acta Poloniae pharmaceutica Vol. 66; no. 5; pp. 447 - 460
• Main Authors: Dobrek, Łukasz, Thor, Piotr J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Poland 01.09.2009
• Subjects: Animals; Drug Delivery Systems; Dyspepsia - classification; Dyspepsia - drug therapy; Dyspepsia - physiopathology; Gastrointestinal Agents - pharmacology; Gastrointestinal Agents - therapeutic use; Gastrointestinal Diseases - classification; Gastrointestinal Diseases - drug therapy; Gastrointestinal Diseases - physiopathology; Humans; Irritable Bowel Syndrome - classification; Irritable Bowel Syndrome - drug therapy; Irritable Bowel Syndrome - physiopathology
• ISSN: 0001-6837

The functional gastrointestinal diseases (FGIDs) are often noticed disturbances. Functional dyspepsia (FD) is the most frequent FGID of the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract while irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) occurs in the lower gastrointestinal part. Both clinical entities are characterized by rich symptomatology and the pattern of the diagnostic guidelines. Recognition and the classification of FGIDs are difficult, consisting in exclusion of all possible organic disorders and subordinating on the predominant symptom basis to most appropriate class, acording to Rome III classification. The present FGIDs pharmacotherapy is limited mostly to the symptomatical treatment and it is based on medicines conventionally used in various gastrointestinal organic illnesses (antisecretory, gastroprotective agents, antidiarrhoeal and laxative drugs). Some of them which seem to diminish visceral hypersensitivity acting via serotonin receptors are also used, including 5-HT4 agonists and 5-HT3 antagonists. Many investigations over the new causal acting medicines last at present, which would be able to abolish the main pathophysiological FD and IBS mechanisms: visceral hypersensitivity and both myoelectrical and dysmotility phenomena. Thus, new pharmacological agents influencing opioid, purinergic, NMDA, CCK-A, or NK receptors are studied. The article is the mini-review, representing classification and the outline of the FGIDs pathogenesis, the present concepts of their pharmacological treatment and the future perspectives of pharmacoherapy with the use of new, interfering into key pathomechanisms drugs.