Hi, I was just wondering if anybody knew anything about the drug: Mesalazine. There are lots of articles about this on the web and it looks reasonably promising.

I have recently been reading how it could help IBS symptoms. Mesalazine is supposed to be effective at reducing mast cell infiltration. Here's an extract from the below link:

"Mesalazine is known to have anti-inflammatory properties and is used in the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases. Although its exact mechanism are still unknown(10, 20), several potential mechanisms have been suggested, including 5-aminosalicylate-induced inhibition of inflammation by interfering with the metabolism of arachidonic acid, prevention of mucosal generation of leukotrienes and PG(26) scavenging of free radicals(21, 26) and mechanisms only recently identified involving inhibition of nuclear factor-kappaB (NFκ and induction of apoptosis."

www.scielo.br/pdf/ag/v48n1/a08v48n1.pdf

If anyone is interested, the University of Nottingham are currently running a trial with this drug and looking for volunteers with IBS

Here's another like to a trial done with IBS and Mesalazine. Easier to read than the last link::

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.13...036.2009.04041.x/pdf

Looks promising Bushi but as someone who has trained in nutritional medicine I should probably point out that all of the mechanisms of action attributed to Mesalazine in the first study you referenced could be achieved through diet and nutritional/herbl supplements. The inflammatory actions of arachidonic acid (and leukotrienes and prostaglandins derived from it) can be mediated by consumption of the correct balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and other lipids, free radicals can be scavenged by a variety of natural antioxidants and NFkB can also be inhibited by many natural supplements e.g. yukka.

I always prefer the natural approach as nutrients in particular always have many other health benefits besides the specific area you are addressing and drugs more often than not have side-effects resulting from biochemical knock-on effects from the pathways they are inhibiting or stimulating.

Hey Maff,

Thanks for the feedback about this. I appreciate it. I think I will just monitor the progress on this and see how it goes. I can't see this being a major breakthrough for a treatment for IBS.

I'll keep it in my armoury of things to try in the future.

No problem Bushi. I think you're right and probably just a good idea to keep an eye on any progress made with this.

Always good to have things lined up in the armoury. I have a good few things I plan to try at some point but can only do one at a time so have to prioritise!