Abstract
Visceral pain sensitivity has been called a biological marker for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Recently developed symptom-based criteria provide the tools necessary to make a diagnosis and treatments. The precise underlying pathophysiology of IBS remains unknown. This article is a review of the psychological influences on visceral perception and hereditary determinant for background of IBS. Psychological factors influence pain thresholds in patients with IBS. Sensitization by repeated distention has been cited as evidence of a biological basis for hyperalgesia, and study of the brain imaging shows that different regions are activated by painful distention in patients with IBS. Variation of the gene promoter region is associated with sensitivity to stress and symptoms of IBS, this is consistent with psychological influences on perception. The brain-gut axis involving the central nervous system with genotype and psychological factors have emerged as an underlying concept for IBS.
