IBS is a chronic functional gastrointestinal disorder which for many sufferers is marked by abdominal discomfort, bloating, constipation and/or diarrhea and can be categorized based on these symptoms: IBS-D is accompanied by diarrhea, IBS-C is accompanied by constipation and IBS-M includes both diarrhea and constipation. Research suggests that IBS is caused by changes in the nerves and muscles that control sensation and motility of the bowel. IBS affects 10 to 15 percent of the U.S. population is 1.5 times more common in women than in men, according to the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse.

Patients with IBS-D showed a statistically significant improvement in abdominal pain and diarrhea after a 12-week course of mesalamine granules (1500 mg), a form of mesalamine or 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) which is an anti-inflammatory drug used to treat inflammatory disorders of the digestive tract such as ulcerative colitis and mild-to-moderate Crohn's disease.

Researchers from California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco conducted the prospective randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled multicenter study, to investigate the efficacy of mesalamine granules in the treatment of IBS-D after a review of uncontrolled, publicly available data suggested aminosalicylate therapy may be of benefit to patients with IBS-D.

In the study, "Mesalamine Granules 1500 mg Once daily for 12 Weeks Provides Adequate Relief of IBS Symptoms in Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Diarrhea: Results from a Phase 2 Trial," 148 patients with IBS-D (by Rome III criteria) were randomized to receive MG 750 mg (47 patients) and MG 1500 mg (51 patients) or placebo (50 patients) once daily for 12 weeks. An intent-to-treat analysis of patients who were monthly responders in both abdominal pain and stool consistency for two months or more during the three-month treatment period was compared between groups by a Logistics regression model. A weekly responder in abdominal pain was defined as a 30 percent or more improvement from baseline in the weekly average abdominal pain score on a 10-point scale. A weekly responder in stool consistency was defined as a 50 percent reduction in number of days in a week with stool consistency of Type 6 or 7 compared with baseline using the Bristol Stool Scale. Monthly responders were patients who were weekly responders in abdominal pain and stool consistency for at least 2 out of 4 weeks.

In the primary endpoint analysis, a significantly greater proportion of patients (47 percent) were monthly responders for at least 2 months in the MG 1500mg group compared with placebo (28 percent). However, statistically significant differences were not observed in the mesalamine granules 750mg group (31.9 percent) compared with the placebo (28 percent).

"In a post-hoc analysis of the data, those subjects who had greater inflammation as measured by a median C-reactive protein level greater than 2.2mg/L had a 65.4 percent improvement in pain and stool consistency at 12 weeks when compared to a 25 percent response to placebo," said co-investigator Jeffrey Aron, M.D. "IBS is a more mild expression of intolerance of the person's immune system to the environment of the gut in that it disturbs function rather than destroying structure in certain anatomical and pathologic patterns as seen in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Control of inflammation, to me, is the key to treating these disorders."

"Mesalamine granules at a dosage of 1500mg once a day for 12 weeks provided statistically significant improvement in abdominal pain and stool consistency in patients with IBS-D and emphasized the role of treating inflammation in this disorder," added Dr. Aron. "These results confirm earlier observations that aminosalicylates may have a therapeutic role in symptomatic treatment of in IBS-D but further large-scales studies may be warranted in this population."

Source: Press release from American College of Gastroenterology (ACG)