caa a22 4500 445797967 CHVBK 20180317145132.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170323e20111101xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10620-011-1740-9 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10620-011-1740-9 Effect of Red Pepper on Symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Preliminary Study [Elektronische Daten] [M. Bortolotti, S. Porta] Background: Abdominal pain, that characterizes irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) together with bloating and disordered defecation, is mainly related to a visceral hypersensitivity due to an increase of TRPV1 nociceptive nerve fiber activity. Aim: As capsaicin contained in red pepper is able to desensitize the TRPV1 fibres, we evaluated whether the red pepper oral administration can decrease the symptoms of visceral hypersensitivity in IBS patients. Methods: The study was performed on 50 patients with IBS diagnosed following Rome II criteria. After a 2-week washout period, 23 patients were planned to receive 4 pills/day, for 6weeks randomly and in a double blind manner, each containing 150mg of red pepper powder with a coat that dissolves in the colon, and 27 patients placebo. The patients scored each day in a diary the abdominal pain and bloating intensities following the 5-point Likert scale. The weekly symptom mean scores and the final patient subjective evaluation on treatment effectiveness were statistically compared among groups and intra-groups with appropriate tests. Results: Eight patients dropped from the study: 6 in the red pepper group for abdominal pain and 2 in the placebo group. In 8 patients, the pills were reduced to 2/day, because of the abdominal pain at the onset of treatment. The intra-group comparisons showed that in patients taking red pepper the abdominal pain and bloating mean score values of the last weeks of treatment were significantly improved with respect to pre-treatment values, unlike patients taking placebo. The final patient subjective evaluation on the treatment effectiveness showed that red pepper group scored significantly better than placebo. Conclusions: The results of this preliminary study indicate that the chronic administration of red pepper powder in IBS patients with enteric-coated pills was significantly more effective than placebo in decreasing the intensity of abdominal pain and bloating and was considered by the patients more effective than placebo. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 2011 Abdominal pain nationallicence Capsaicin nationallicence Irritable bowel syndrome nationallicence Red pepper nationallicence Visceral hypersensitivity nationallicence Bortolotti M. Department of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, University of Bologna, Via Massarenti 48, 40138, Bologna, Italy aut Porta S. Medical Department, SOFAR, Milan, Italy aut Digestive Diseases and Sciences Springer US; http://www.springer-ny.com 56/11(2011-11-01), 3288-3295 0163-2116 56:11<3288 2011 56 10620 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-011-1740-9 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-011-1740-9 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Bortolotti M. Department of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, University of Bologna, Via Massarenti 48, 40138, Bologna, Italy aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Porta S. Medical Department, SOFAR, Milan, Italy aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Digestive Diseases and Sciences Springer US; http://www.springer-ny.com 56/11(2011-11-01), 3288-3295 0163-2116 56:11<3288 2011 56 10620 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer