What prompted the authors to study the efficacy of SB for diverticulitis was the lack of side effects of SB [28, 29] and similarities between diverticulitis and irritable bowel syndrome for which SB has been shown effective, such as presence of abnormal colonic motility, visceral hypersensitivity, presence of low-grade inflammation, and increased circulating levels of either substance P or vasoactive intestinal polypeptide [30, 31]. This evidence concerns the gene VIP and irritable bowel syndrome.