The scientific interests of Prof. Maria Grazia Zizzo include the electrical and mechanical activity of the gastrointestinal smooth muscle and its nervous control. Her studies involve the chemical mediators involved in the control of motility of different regions of the rodent gastrointestinal tract under physiological conditions. She is interested in gastrointestinal physiology and possible alterations in the mechanical intestinal activity of mdx mice, a useful animal model for muscular dystrophy. She characterized the function of different purinergic receptors in the control of gastrointestinal motility and age-related changes in the function and expression of enteric dopamine receptors in the mouse gut. In recent years, she has focused her studies on the mechanisms underlying inflammatory conditions in the gastrointestinal tract. Performing in vivo and in vitro experiments on a rat model of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with 2,4-dinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (DNBS), she investigated the functionality of the renin–⁠angiotensin system (during intestinal inflammation) and its contribution to colonic motor alterations, as well as the role of purinergic receptors in intestinal inflammation in the pathophysiology of gut motor disorders. She also investigated the beneficial effects of treatment with algal Aphanizomenon flos-aquae extract in an experimental model of colitis in rats.