Methane and Constipation-predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Entwining Pillars of Emerging Neurogastroenterology

Functional gut disorders have long known to cause depravity in quality of life. Among the group of these heterogeneous disorders, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has been known to affect a large chunk of our population. IBS is not as simple as it sounds. Caused by a multitude of factors, the heterogeneity of this disorder has laid the foundation for research and the new principles of neurogastroenterology. Dysbiosis and methane production are one of the forthcoming factors that are currently under investigation. Down the road of exclusive enteric anaerobic fermentation of polysaccharides, methane is produced. It was considered to be an inert gas in the past, with little to no role in gut activity but now it is established that it has an impressive role in the etiology of constipation-predominant IBS (C-IBS). Acting as a neurotransmitter, it is known to affect ileal and colonic transit time, which has currently been shown in animal studies. Many laxatives, ionophore antibiotics, drugs like rifamixin and neomycin have been targeted against this very principle. Lately, lovastatin has emerged as a potential pharmacologic therapy to devoid the gut of methane without disrupting the gut niche in itself and has shown promise in relieving the symptoms of C-IBS. The goal of this article is to compile and assemble the literature available on IBS and the neuromodulation of methane to teach physicians and research scientists about the current age of gastroenterology and the growing need to emphasize the role of methane in the symptomatology of functional gut disorders like C-IBS.