Editorial
Copyright ©2012 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 21, 2012; 18(7): 589-600
Published online Feb 21, 2012. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v18.i7.589
Herbal medicines for the management of irritable bowel syndrome: A comprehensive review
Roja Rahimi, Mohammad Abdollahi
Roja Rahimi, Faculty of Traditional Medicine, Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1417614411, Iran
Mohammad Abdollahi, Faculty of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1417614411, Iran
Author contributions: Rahimi R collected data and drafted the manuscript; Abdollahi M conceived the study, reviewed data, and edited the manuscript.
Correspondence to: Mohammad Abdollahi, Professor, Faculty of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1417614411, Iran. mohammad.abdollahi@utoronto.ca
Telephone: +98-21-66959104 Fax: +98-21-66959104
Received: June 7, 2011
Revised: August 21, 2011
Accepted: October 28, 2011
Published online: February 21, 2012
Abstract

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gut disorder with high prevalence. Because of various factors involved in its pathophysiology and disappointing results from conventional IBS medications, the treatment of IBS is challenging and use of complementary and alternative medicines especially herbal therapies is increasing. In this paper, electronic databases including PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane library were searched to obtain any in vitro, in vivo or human studies evaluating single or compound herbal preparations in the management of IBS. One in vitro, 3 in vivo and 23 human studies were included and systematically reviewed. The majority of studies are about essential oil of Menta piperita as a single preparation and STW 5 as a compound preparation. Some evaluated herbs such as Curcuma xanthorriza and Fumaria officinalis did not demonstrate any benefits in IBS. However, it seems there are many other herbal preparations such as those proposed in traditional medicine of different countries that could be studied and investigated for their efficacy in management of IBS.

Keywords: Herbal medicines; Irritable bowel syndrome; Systematic review