# Progesterone inhibits mast cell secretion.



## Nanobug (Nov 7, 2006)

From "Progesterone inhibits mast cell secretion":"Mast cells... have... been implicated in inflammatory conditions, such as... irritable bowel syndrome..., all of which occur more often in women and are exacerbated during ovulation, but are suppressed during pregnancy."Could this be why some women experience no IBS symptom during pregnancy?


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## eric (Jul 8, 1999)

That is interesting. Thanks for posting that.Yes that could be a possiblity, although the study was on rats, but still a possiblity.Not sure about taking it for pain though. Might not be a good idea.Mast cells are players in at least some IBSers, especially those that developed IBS from Post Infectious IBS.I have been looking at those cells for a while now in depth. They are also majorally conneted to the bodies stress system also and in part how stress and infection are linked. They can be activated in a lot of ways including allergies and stress as I have mentioned and they degrandulate histimine. This is macroscopic inflammation, but they degrandulate histimine onto the smooth muscle of the gut, they are more embedded in the gut walls. But this can contribute to pain, but there seems to be other problems. Also serotonin is a very important messenger for sensation from the digestive system to the brain. That is also really important in IBS and in pain. Irritable Bowel Syndrome: How far do you go in the Workup?"There is evidence that IBS is a heterogeneous disorder where different physiological subgroups contribute to the clinical expression of the syndrome. For example, there is a subgroup of patients, called "post-infectious IBS" who appear to respond to an enteric infection such as campylobactor jejuni with an increased inflammatory cell response (22). This is associated with activating enterochromaffin cells to produce 5HT, and CD3 cells to produce cytokines, which in turn leads to enhanced motility and lowered visceral sensation thresholds (22;23). But microscopic inflammation cannot be a diagnostic marker for IBS because it does not typically produce pain in those who have it. All patients with active celiac disease have microscopic inflammation, but a large proportion do not have abdominal pain, and patients with ulcerative colitis who also have microscopic inflammation when compared to patients with IBS appear to have higher pain thresholds (24). In individuals with these disorders, there may be central nervous system counter-regulatory measures responding to the peripheral pain/inflammatory processes that increase pain thresholds. With regard to IBS, the gut-related effects of microscopic inflammation may be only one component of a dysfunctional brain-gut system. In addition, and often in response to stress, there may be a failure to activate descending pain inhibitory systems that enable the clinical experience of pain and other symptoms that typify this disorder (25). In one prospective study of post-infectious IBS, it was found that those who retained their symptoms 3-months after an enteric infection had not only increased mucosal cellularity, but also had increased psychosocial distress at the time of the infection. Furthermore, lowered visceral sensation thresholds and increased motility were present after the infection regardless of whether or not the patients retained their symptoms (26). Therefore, the microscopic inflammation and its physiological effects on motility and sensation contribute to, but are not always sufficient for the clinical expression of IBS pain"http://www.romecriteria.org/reading1.html


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## 13840 (May 9, 2005)

That's really interesting. When I saw my new doctor for the first time he mentioned a patient of his who had IBS. She got rid of it by getting pregnant (not an option in my case).


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## SpAsMaN* (May 11, 2002)

> quote:Originally posted by dancechick:That's really interesting. When I saw my new doctor for the first time he mentioned a patient of his who had IBS. She got rid of it by getting pregnant (not an option in my case).


REALLY?How many here got pregnant and well...still have this?Yeah perhaps in some case.


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## Nanobug (Nov 7, 2006)

> quote:She got rid of it by getting pregnant (not an option in my case)


An anti-aging doctor will be able to help you supplement with progesterone and achieve optimal levels of this hormone. No need to get pregnant!


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## eric (Jul 8, 1999)

FYIWomen and Irritable Bowel Syndrome Faculty and Investigators at the UNC Center for Functional GI & Motility Disorders conducted a National Survey of the Effects of Changes in Female Sex Hormones on Irritable Bowel Symptoms: oMenstruation is associated with exacerbation of IBS symptoms in the majority of women oPregnancy appears to improve IBS symptoms temporarily for many womenoOral estrogen and progesterone supplements do not seem to have any effect on IBS symptom levels oIrregular menses have no association with IBS symptom severityoHysterectomy or tubal ligation appear to have little effect on IBS severity oEndometriosis increases bloating symptoms but not other symptoms in IBS women http://216.109.125.130/search/cache?p=prog...&icp=1&.intl=usalsoIBS, Pregnancy, Hormones, & Menopause../footer/pregnancy.asp


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## Nanobug (Nov 7, 2006)

> quote:Oral estrogen and progesterone supplements do not seem to have any effect on IBS symptom levels


Of this I have no doubt. Natural progesterone doesn't survive digestion. If they are talking about progestin then, well, that's not progesterone.


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## eric (Jul 8, 1999)

Are you interested in mast cell and IBS research, because there is quite a bit of it that's been done.


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