Novel therapeutic agents in neurogastroenterology: advances in the past year.

Background There have been significant advances in understanding the pathophysiological mechanisms in patients with neurogastroenterological disorders including irritable bowel syndrome ( IBS) and functional abdominal pain, functional diarrhea, chronic constipation, gastroparesis, and functional dyspepsia. These advances have led to the development of novel pharmacological therapy of neurogastroenterological disorders. Purpose To review peer-reviewed articles or prominent preliminary communications presented in the past year regarding medications in development for functional gastrointestinal disorders or gastroparesis. The medications fall into two main categories: first, established classes of medications within established classes, such as 5- HT3 receptor antagonists and 5- HT4 receptor agonists, and second, new classes of medications such as a combined μ-opioid agonist and δ-antagonist, or a small molecule ghrelin agonist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]