Role of Corticotropin-Releasing Factor in Stress-Induced Changes in Gastrointestinal Transit

Studies of pathological stress responses in patients and of experimental stress in normal human subjects indicate that stress can bring about profound changes in gastrointestinal motility and propulsion. Patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or normal subjects exposed to stress often display disordered patterns of contractions or transit in the small intestine and excessive contractions of the colon1–3. Mechanistic studies of stress require laboratory models that mimic, to the extent possible, the dysfunctions of motility associated with stress responses in humans.