A receptor that is responsible for our sense of touch and temperature, and which researchers have now found to be present in our colon, could provide a target for treating chronic pain associated with gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome.
A study led by Hongzhen Hu, PhD, at Washington University, and Nick Spencer, PhD, at Flinders University, identified the presence of Piezo2, the subject of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, now known to be responsible for sensing light touch on our skin. “In discovering that this receptor is also in our gut, there’s the potential that selectively targeting these channels could be used for long-term silencing of pain sensations from internal organs, without the need for frequent consumption of opiate pain medications,” said Spencer, a Matthew Flinders Professor in the College of Medicine and Public Health.
