With the identification of a primary cause of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and the realisation that the illness may be treated with already available medications, researchers have achieved “huge strides forward,” reports RTE.
IBD, which encompasses both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, is on the rise. As of 2022, there were over 500,000 IBD patients in the UK, almost twice as many as the 300,000 who were previously expected.
Since we don’t know what causes IBD, efforts to produce new medications frequently fail and current therapies don’t work for every patient, reports RTE.
In the investigation, scientists at the Francis Crick Institute, in collaboration with UCL and Imperial College London, discovered a region of DNA that is exclusive to certain immune cells that are known to induce intestinal inflammation.
Although there are no particular medications that inhibit this, medications recommended for other non-inflammatory illnesses have been shown to work well in the past, reports RTE.
According to tests, the drug decreased inflammation in both immune cells and IBD patients’ gastrointestinal samples.
Nevertheless, this drug has adverse effects on other organs, so researchers are currently trying to figure out how to get it straight to the immune cells.
The goal is for clinical trials to begin within five years.
Lauren Golightly, 27 said: “Crohn’s has had a huge impact on my life. I’ve had a rocky road since diagnosis, with many hospital admissions, several different medications and even surgery to have a temporary stoma bag. One of the hardest things about having Inflammatory Bowel Disease is the uncertainty around it,” reports RTE.
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