ENTERIC GLIA: A NEW PLAYER IN ABDOMINAL PAIN

Society: AGA

Abdominal pain is one of the most common reasons for doctors visits, and presents in numerous GI diseases. Unfortunately the current treatment options targeting sensory neurons to reduce pain have limited efficacy or unwanted side effects, and this is especially true for visceral pain. Recent evidence strongly suggests that non-neuronal cell populations found in the gut, including epithelial cells, enteric glia, immune cells and gut microbiota, play major roles in visceral pain by directly interacting with sensory neurons that carry pain information. In this session, you will learn about how these 'unusual suspects' (i.e., non-neuronal cell types) are involved in visceral pain processes and and how manipulating their activity reduces hypersensitivity, inflammation, and other GI disease outcomes.