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Researcher
Heiko De Schepper
- Research Expertise:1. During my medical training, I participated in several experiments focusing on the characterization of neurotransmitters in motility of the mouse small intestine. We found evidence for a role of ATP in inhibitory neurotransmission and of all three tachykinin receptor subtypes in excitatory neurotransmission. 2. During my PhD I performed both functional and electrophysiological experiments detailing the effects of acute TNBS colitis in rats on gastrointestinal motility and sensitivity. The main contribution of this work was to identify TRPV1 receptors as potential therapeutic targets in visceral pain. 3. During my fellowship at the motility department of the AMC Amsterdam, I performed 2 technical studies on the performance of high resolution esophageal manometry in detecting esophageal motility disorders. 4. As a senior resident in the University Hospital of Antwerp, I have established a gastrointestinal motility clinic with a florid multidisciplinary pelvic floor unit. Several clinical research projects are currently ongoing, of which the first has now been published, concentrating on the manometric characterization of patients with fecal incontinence. 5. As a promotor at LEMP there are currently two broad research lines in the domain of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). In a translational project we investigate the role of mast cells in the pathophysiology of IBS (cell culture, flowcytometry). In a second more clinical line we focus on the development of biomarker tests in IBS (volatomics, metabolomics).
- Keywords:MOTILITY DISORDERS, FUNCTIONELE GASTROENTEROLOGIE, IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME, Medicine
- Disciplines:Diagnostics, Gastro-enterology and hepatology, Immunology, Laboratory medicine, Microbiology, Molecular and cell biology, Neurosciences, Physiology, Nutrition and dietetics
- Research techniques:Clinical manometry (esophagus, anorectal, colon) Volatomics (IMS, GC-MS) Cell culture Flowcytometry
- Users of research expertise:researchers with special interest in neurogastroenterology commercial pharmaceutical companies developing compounds in neurogastroenterology