Abstract

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common gastrointestinal disorder with high prevalence. The main clinical symptoms of IBS include abdominal pain and defecatory irregularities which has profound negative impact on patients’ life quality. Till now, the etiology and pathogenesis of this functional disorder have not been totally elucidated. However, it is widely accepted that the visceral hypersensitivity, the alteration in brain-gut axis and gut microbiota are involved in the process of IBS. And a series of animal models have been applied to imitate these pathological changes. Nowadays, there is no specific drug to cure IBS. Therefore, it is important to understand the pros and cons of the existing IBS animal models, to use these models and to establish better models for drug research and development.