Therapeutic effects of curcumin on constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome is associated with modulating gut microbiota and neurotransmitters

Introduction: Constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-C) is a functional bowel disease that affects 10-20% of the population worldwide. Curcumin (CUR) is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat IBS, but its mechanism of action needs further investigation. Methods: In this study, we used mosapride (MOS) as a positive control to evaluate the changes in gut microbiota in IBS-C rat models after treatment with CUR or MOS by analyzing 16S rDNA variation. In addition, we used enzyme immunoassay kits and immunohistochemical analysis to investigate whether CUR or MOS influenced serotonin (5-HT), substance P (SP), and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) levels in the serum and colon of IBS-C rats. Results: 2 in the gut microbiota. Discussion: This study showed that the efficacy of CUR on IBS-C was possibly by modulating the microbiota and lowering the serum levels of HT, SP, and VIP.