Researchers to activate anti-cancer gene

Colon sloughs lining

The intestines have to work properly if we are to benefit from the food we eat. Digestive juices must be secreted, the food broken down into smaller components and then transported through the gut wall and onwards to muscles and organs. The lining of the gut is coated in epithelial cells, a specialised layer that produces mucous and hormones while keeping dangerous bacteria and toxins at bay. Close contact with pathogenic microbes and toxins means that the epithelial cells may mutate to form cancer. The small intestine therefore secretes the entire epithelial layer in the course of two to five days, while the large intestine takes three weeks to perform the same process.

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Plantain and broccoli fibers may block key stage in Crohn’s disease development

Translocation of Crohn’s disease Escherichia coli across M-cells: Contrasting effects of soluble plant fibers and emulsifiers

Plantain and broccoli fibres may block a key stage in the development of the inflammatory bowel disorder, Crohn’s disease, suggests preliminary research published online in Gut.

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Reshaping the gut microbiome could herald new treatments for bowel diseases

August 24, 2010 – Home to a diverse range of microorganisms, a healthy human body contains at least tenfold more bacteria cells than human cells. The most abundant and diverse microbial community resides in the intestine, and changes to the gut microbiota are linked with diseases such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. In a report published online today in Genome Research (www.genome.org), researchers have analyzed the long-term effects of gut bacterial transplantation in rats, revealing crucial insight that will aid in the development of new treatments.

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Studies offer encouraging data on preventing Crohn’s disease recurrence

Biological agents may play an important role in maintaining remission in Crohn’s disease, according to two new studies in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute.

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Scientists target possible cause of 1 form of bowel disease

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A possible cause of irritable bowel syndrome has been traced to a small piece of RNA that blocks a substance protecting the colon membrane, leading to hostile conditions that can produce diarrhea, bloating and chronic abdominal pain.

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Math model of colon inflammation singles out dangerous immune cells

Scientists at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech have constructed a mathematical and computational model of inflammatory bowel disease that allows researchers to simulate the cellular and molecular changes underlying chronic inflammation in humans. The model allows scientists to explore different interactions of cells in the immune system, check how these cells are linked to inflammation in the colon, and identify intervention points to perhaps stop the disease in its tracks. The work appears in the Journal of Theoretical Biology.†

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First step to new therapy for chronic bowel disease

Scientists associated with VIB (Flanders Institute for Biotechnology) and Ghent University (UGent) have discovered that A20 protein plays an important protective role in diseases associated with chronic bowel inflammation. This makes A20 into a promising therapeutic target for the development of new anti-inflammatory drugs.

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Cancer drug shows promise for treating a wide range of inflammatory diseases

New research published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology suggests bortezomib induces cell death in activated and proliferating T cells, leaving resting T cells untouched, offering hope for reducing or eliminating dangerous inflammation

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A future strategy for the treatment of patients with ulcerative colitis

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is characterized by frequent diarrheal attacks and anal bleeding. Histologic characteristics of UC are the invasion of the crypt epithelium and lamina propria by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), disruption of the epithelial lining, and consequently mucosal ulceration and crypt abscess formation in the bowel wall. Regulation of the migration of inflammatory leukocytes into the intestinal tissues is considered to be a therapeutic option for patients with UC. Chemokine stromal cell-derived factor-1 receptor (CXCR4) is specific receptor for chemokine chemokine stromal cell-derived factor-1 (CXCL12), and the latter is a potent chemoattractant for PBMCs. The expression of CXCL12 and CXCR4 on intestinal epithelial cells, lamina propria T cells and PBMCs are significantly increased in UC patients, and block of CXCR4 ameliorates the colonic inflammation in experimental colitis. Whether a CXCR4 antagonist enhances epithelial barrier function, however, has not been unequivocally addressed.

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C-reactive protein measurement in children inflammatory bowel disease patients

C-reactive protein (CRP) is used to assess disease activity in diverse inflammatory disorders including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, in IBD, a significant number of patients present with low CRP levels despite clinically active disease. In paediatric patients with IBD the performance of CRP is an understudied area. High-sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP) measures CRP levels that were previously thought to be under the detection limit. In paediatric IBD, this kind of highly sensitive marker is needed for the detection of the presence of inflammation.

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