You are here

Article Text

Article menu
Download PDFPDF
Letter
TRPV1-expressing sensory fibres and IBS: links with immune function
  1. P A Hughes1,2,
  2. S M Brierley1,2,
  3. C M Martin1,
  4. T Liebregts1,
  5. J Persson1,
  6. B Adam1,
  7. G Holtmann1,3,
  8. L A Blackshaw1,2,3
  1. 1
    Nerve-Gut Research Laboratory, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Royal Adelaide Hospital, University of Adelaide, Australia
  2. 2
    Discipline of Physiology, University of Adelaide, Australia
  3. 3
    Discipline of Medicine, University of Adelaide, Australia
  1. Professor L A Blackshaw, Nerve-Gut Research Laboratory, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, Australia; ashley.blackshow{at}health.sa.gov.au

https://doi.org/10.1136/gut.2008.161760

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    The paper by Akbar et al (Gut 2008;57:923–9) characterises the expression of the capsaicin receptor, transient receptor potential vanilloid type-1 (TRPV1), immune cell markers, and their relationship to symptoms in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). They conclude that the increase in TRPV1-expressing nerve fibres may contribute to visceral hypersensitivity in IBS, and therefore provide a novel therapeutic target. An important parallel finding was that the overall density of innervation (protein gene product 9.5 (PGP9.5)- and substance P-positive) is increased along with TRPV1. Therefore, the upregulation of neuronal markers is not selective for TRPV1, and probably represents axonal sprouting. Most colonic sensory nerves normally express TRPV1,1 indicating that it may be a useful general marker for them and their proximity to other cells.

    Akbar et al also show a dramatic increase in the numbers of lymphocytes (CD3+) and mast cells (ckit+) in IBS, which are therefore more likely to release mediators in the vicinity of TRPV1+ sensory fibres. This corroborates …

    View Full Text

    Footnotes

    • Funding: This work was supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Project Grant 339324, and by NHMRC Fellowships to SMB and LAB.

    • Competing interests: None.