New genetic candidates for irritable bowel syndrome discovered
Tuesday, May 4, 2010 - 11:33
in Health & Medicine
Most people associate serotonin with brain neurology, but over 95 percent of the body's serotonin occurs in the gastrointestinal tract, which has a complex neuronal circuit that has been called "the second brain" of the body. Now a Mayo Clinic research team has identified a number of genetic variants in serotonin genes that impact irritable bowel syndrome or IBS. The findings are being presented today at Digestive Disease Week 2010 in New Orleans.