Visceral perception: Inflammatory and non-inflammatory mediators

Abstract

Visceral hypersensitivity is currently the most widely accepted mechanism responsible for abdominal pain. Inflammatory mediators are known to sensitise primary afferents and to recruit silent nociceptors. Recent evidence suggests that non-inflammatory mediators also have the potential to trigger visceral pain. This sequence of events may constitute part of an alerting system which prompts the central nervous system to correct gastrointestinal responses to ingestion.