Clinical evidence for the role of linaclotide for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome

摘要

Linaclotide is an synthetic peptide that binds to the external domain of enteric guanylate cyclase C, activating a molecular pathway that increases intestinal secretion into the lumen and may simultaneously reduce pain sensitivity. These pharmacological properties make linaclotide specially well suited for the management of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) a condition characterized by abdominal pain and decreased bowel movement frequency and/or increased stool consistency. Linaclotide has been evaluated by a series of clinical trials in both, patients with chronic constipation and patients with IBS-C. In both groups, reported trials have shown that this new drug is both efficacious and appears to be quite safe. Thus, linaclotide is an exciting new drug arriving timely to assist clinicians in the management of IBS-C, a benign yet common, and extremely inconvenient symptomatic condition that currently poses a significant therapeutic challenge