Another study showed the use of tenapanor and its analogs in patients with constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome and for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia in end-stage renal disease patients on dialysis, implying that NHE3 inhibitors could be regarded as potential stool softeners in constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome. This evidence concerns the gene SLC9A3 and irritable bowel syndrome.