The place of tachykinin NK2 receptor antagonists in the treatment diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome.

Abstract

Tachykinins act as neurotransmitters and neuromodulators in the central and peripheral nervous system. Preclinical studies and clinical trials showed that inhibition of the tachykinin receptors, mainly NK2 may constitute a novel attractive option in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). In this review, we focused on the role of tachykinins in physiology and pathophysiology of gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Moreover, we summed up recent data on tachykinin receptor antagonists in the therapy of IBS. Ibodutant is a novel drug with an interesting pharmacological profile, which exerted efficacy in women with diarrhea-predominant IBS (IBS-D) in phase II clinical trials. The promising results were not replicable and confirmed in phase III of clinical trials. Ibodutant is not ready to be introduced in the pharmaceutical market and further studies on alternative NK2 antagonist are needed to make NK2 antagonists useful tools in IBS-D treatment.