Peppermint Oil with Site Specific Targeting is an Effective Therapy for Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Mixed Bowel Habits

Brooks D. Cash, Michael S. Epstein, Syed M. Shah

Abstract


Background  Among the 3 primary irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) subtypes, the availability of effective therapies for IBS-mixed (IBS-M) remains an unmet clinical need. No therapies are currently approved for patients with IBS-M, despite the fact that this subtype affects a large proportion of IBS patients.

Aims  To evaluate the efficacy of a novel formulation of peppermint oil with site specific targeting (PO-SST) in patients with IBS-M.

Methods  Thirty-four subjects met Rome III criteria for IBS-M and were randomly allocated to receive PO-SST TID (n=16) or identical placebo (n=18) for 4 weeks. The primary analysis was based on the Total IBS Symptom score (TISS). Additional assessments included the change from baseline in both frequency and intensity of individual IBS symptoms.

Results  After 4 weeks of treatment, IBS-M patients in the PO-SST arm demonstrated statistically significant reduction from baseline in the TISS (P = 0.0298) and symptom frequency (P = 0.0349) and reached near-significance (P = 0.0528) in reduction in IBS symptom intensity. For all 8 IBS symptoms evaluated individually, patients in the PO arm had a greater reduction in symptoms compared to placebo, with statistical significance reached for abdominal pain (P = 0.0426), constipation (P = 0.0085), urgency (P = 0.0364), and sense of incomplete evacuation (P = 0.0422).

Conclusions  PO-SST demonstrated statistically significant reduction versus placebo in TISS, abdominal pain, constipation, urgency, and sense of incomplete evacuation in IBS-M patients.

Keywords


Irritable bowel syndrome, peppermint oil, abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, l-Menthol

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18103/imr.v3i9.565

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