Open AccessMechanisms Underlying Food-Triggered Symptoms in Disorders of Gut-Brain Interactions
Author(s) -
Karen Van den Houte,
Premek Bercik,
Magnus Simrén,
Jan Tack,
Stephen Vanner
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
the american journal of gastroenterology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.907
H-Index - 252
eISSN - 1572-0241
pISSN - 0002-9270
DOI - 10.14309/ajg.0000000000001812
Subject(s) - medicine , irritable bowel syndrome , mechanism (biology) , gut flora , gut–brain axis , immune system , clinical trial , bioinformatics , food allergy , gastrointestinal tract , neuroscience , allergy , immunology , philosophy , epistemology , biology
There has been a dramatic increase in clinical studies examining the relationship between disorders of gut-brain interactions and symptoms evoked by food ingestion in the upper and lower gastrointestinal tract, but study design is challenging to verify valid endpoints. Consequently, mechanistic studies demonstrating biological relevance, biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets are greatly needed. This review highlights emerging mechanisms related to nutrient sensing and tasting, maldigestion, physical effects with underlying visceral hypersensitivity, allergy and immune mechanisms, food-microbiota interactions and gut-brain signaling, with a focus on patients with functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome. Many patients suffering from disorders of gut-brain interactions exhibit these mechanism(s) but which ones and which specific properties may vary widely from patient to patient. Thus, in addition to identifying these mechanisms and the need for further studies, biomarkers and novel therapeutic targets are identified that could enable enriched patient groups to be studied in future clinical trials examining the role of food in the generation of gut and non-gut symptoms.