British scientists have discovered a major cause of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Inflammatory bowel disease has a major cause PHOTO: Archive
They found a weak point in our DNA that is present in 95% of people who suffer from this disease.
It makes it much easier for some immune cells to run amok and cause excessive inflammation in the intestines, according to bbc.com.
The team has discovered drugs that already exist that appear to reverse the disease in laboratory experiments, and are now targeting human trials.
Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are the most common forms of inflammatory bowel disease.
Often, the disease begins in adolescence or young adulthood.
Lauren Golightly, who is now 27, had her first symptoms at the age of 16, when she had stomach cramps and blood in her stool.
But this was blamed on partying and it wasn't until he was 21, when he had an operation to remove his appendix, that doctors realized he had Crohn's disease.
Three years ago, he needed an emergency stoma after part of his bowel “closed up” and still has to “take a lot of pain medication” because of the number of operations he's needed.
“It's not the life I want to lead” she says.
What's going wrong?
One part of the immune system that is heavily involved in IBD are white blood cells called macrophages.
These flood the lining of the intestines, where they release chemicals – called cytokines – that lead to massive inflammation.
Inflammation is part of the body's normal response to infection, but too much and too much inflammation for too long can have devastating health consequences.
The group of researchers from the Francis Crick Institute and University College London carried out an in-depth genetic analysis to try to unravel the cause of IBD.
They discovered a section of genetic code – or DNA – that turns out to be the “master regulator” of inflammation in macrophages.
It is located right in “top of the pyramid says Dr. James Lee of the Francis Crick Institute.
The gene controls the suite of inflammatory chemicals that macrophages release, and some people are born with a version that makes their body prone to overreact.
Dr. Lee said: “This is undoubtedly one of the central pathways that don't work properly for people to get inflammatory bowel disease. It's the process by which one of the most important cells that causes inflammatory bowel disease goes wrong.”
Other experiments, detailed in the journal Nature, showed that drugs that are already approved for other conditions, such as cancer, were able to calm this excessive inflammation.
These were performed using samples from patients with IBD.
“We discovered not only how and why it goes wrong, but also a potential new way to treat these diseases,” says Dr Lee, who is also a gastroenterologist at the Royal Free Hospital.
However, there will not be a new treatment for IBD anytime soon.
Researchers have a head start because drugs already exist, but they need to find a way to target just the macrophages so they don't cause side effects throughout the body.
Medications should also be precisely calibrated to calm IBD but not leave the patient susceptible to infection by stopping the good part of inflammation in fighting the disease.
Their goal is to start clinical trials within five years.
“This research is a very exciting step towards the possibility of a world without Crohn's disease and colitis one day,” said Ruth Wakeman, from the charity Crohn's & Colitis UK.
She added: “Crohn's disease and colitis are complex, lifelong conditions for which there is no cure, but research like this is helping us answer some of the big questions about their causes.”
However, genetic predisposition is still only half the story. It also takes something to trigger the development of IBD, with diet and antibiotic use all involved.
Symptoms of IBD
-diarrhea
-stomach pains or cramps
-blood in the poop
– bleeding from the bottom
-fatigue
-losing weight without trying
The disease is distinct from irritable bowel syndrome (or IBS), although some of the symptoms overlap. A diagnosis of IBD is made only if there is inflammation in the intestines.
