The Women's Health and Functional Visceral Disorders Center is composed of a cohesive group of clinical investigators and basic scientists with strong independent grant-supported research programs in the interactions between the nervous system and the viscera, with special emphasis on stress neurobiology, sex differences and chronic functional disorders. The main focus of the Center is the identification of sex-related factors that play a role in the development, clinical manifestation and treatment response of two common visceral pain syndromes, e.g. Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Interstitial Cystitis (IC). Both disorders are common, occur more commonly in females, appear to show sex differences in treatment responses and cause significant morbidity and impairment in quality of life. The Center has two clinical and two basic science Projects, which closely interdigitate and overlap in terms of thematic, experimental approach and hypotheses. Thus, while the clinical Projects study sex differences in central stress circuit activation and peripheral outputs of these circuits in human patients with IBS and IC, the two basic Projects study animal models of both disorders. State of the art technology ranging from molecular biological approaches to functional brain imaging techniques will be used to address the following specific aims in the four Projects: 1. Sex Differences in Central Stress Circuit Responsiveness in IBS and IC patients 2. Sex differences in the colonic responses to stress: Role of CRF pathways 3. Sex differences in neuroendocrine and immunologic responses in IBS 4. Sex differences in CRF, noradrenergic function and oxytocin in cats with IC. To facilitate the research, the Center has an Administrative Core and a Scientific Core (Neuroendocrine Measures) and will take advantage of existing NIH-funded core and service facilities on campus, including the CURE: Digestive Diseases Research Center, the UCLA Brain Mapping Center and the GCRC. The Center provides an optimal environment for cooperation and collaboration among its investigators, who already have had a major impact on the field individually. Thus, the synergy expected from the Center promises to have an even larger impact upon expanded research into a highly prevalent, but inadequately treated area of women's health.
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