The aim was to investigate whether Glutamate and GABA concentrations were altered in the rACC in patients with IBS compared to healthy controls, and to investigate if the GABA and Glutamate concentrations were associated with the level of anxiety in IBS patients. We observed higher rACC GABA+ concentrations in IBS patients, whereas Glx concentrations remained unaltered. Moreover, the changes in GABA concentrations were most pronounced in patients with high severity of anxiety. Thus, our findings provide first evidence of dysregulated rACC GABAergic neurotransmission in IBS, and suggest that altered inhibitory neurotransmission may be linked to comorbid anxiety in IBS patients.
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