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Abstract #4129

Experimental stress constricts small bowel and increases ascending colon volume in healthy subjects

Susan E Pritchard 1 , Klara C Garsed 2 , Caroline L Hoad 1 , Melanie Lingaya 3 , R Banwait 3 , W Thongborisute 3 , E Roberts 3 , Carolyn Costigan 1,3 , Luca Marciani 2,3 , Robin C Spiller 2,3 , and Penny A Gowland 1

1 Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Notts, United Kingdom, 2 Nottingham Digestive Diseases Biomedical Research Unit, Nottingham University Hospitals, Nottingham, Notts, United Kingdom, 3 Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre, School of Clinical Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Notts, United Kingdom

Stress is known to affect oro-caecal transit in patients with irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhoea (IBS-D). This study evaluated the effect of a sensory (ice-cold versus warm water hand immersion) and a pharmaceutical stressor (corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH) versus placebo) on postprandial fluid transport in the small and large bowel in two groups of healthy volunteers. Both stressors redistributed fluid in the intestine, similar to that previously seen in IBS-D, and CRH also increased the ascending colon volume. This was associated with increased sensations of distension and bloating. Similar mechanisms could account for symptoms reported in IBS patients.

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