Mayo Clinic researchers lead national trial testing new treatment for chronic, severe indigestion

By Kelley Luckstein

Could medicines used for depression also treat chronic, severe indigestion? Scientists at Mayo Clinic suspect they can and, backed by funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), they are testing that premise in a nationwide clinical trial.

"Nerve cells are found throughout the body, and just as their dysfunction in the brain can cause depression, we suspect overly sensitive nerves in the gut can produce this very uncomfortable indigestion," says Nicholas Talley, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the trial and chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at the Mayo Clinic campus in Florida.

Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, 09/17/09