Ulcerative Colitis News and Research

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Ulcerative colitis is a common inflammatory disease of the colon characterized by inflammation and ulceration of the large bowel and rectum. The condition impairs the ability of the large bowel to absorb water which results in diarrhea, the main symptom of the condition.

Ulcerative colitis is a relapsing and remitting condition, meaning symptoms can die down for long periods but then flare-up from time to time. These flare-ups can be sudden and severe. During a period of relapse, symptoms may include bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain and a sudden urge to defecate. Other symptoms include wind, loss of appetite, weight loss, fever and fatigue.

Currently, there is no cure for the condition apart from surgery. However, certain treatments such as corticosteroids or immunosuppressants may be used to ease symptoms by reducing inflammation. Surgery for severe ulcerative colitis that does not respond to treatment involves completely removing the large bowel and re-routing the small bowel so that waste can still be expelled. This procedure is called a colectomy.

In the UK, the incidence of ulcerative colitis is around 1 in 500 and the condition is equally common among males and females. Symptoms can develop at any age, but onset usually occurs between 15 and 30 years of age.

New consortium of bacteria can be used to treat aggressive colitis in humanized mouse models

A new study reported in Nature Communications shows that a consortium of bacteria, developed to complement lacking or poorly represented functions in the imbalanced microbiome of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients, inhibited and treated chronic immune-mediated colitis in humanized mouse models.

31 May 2021

New technology improves efficacy of inflammatory bowel disease drugs

More Canadians suffer from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) than anywhere else in the world, yet current treatments often have debilitating side effects and are not always effective.

20 May 2021

Inherited genetic variation plays a role in how patients respond to cancer immunotherapy

For all their importance as a breakthrough treatment, the cancer immunotherapies known as checkpoint inhibitors still only benefit a small minority of patients, perhaps 15 percent across different types of cancer. Moreover, doctors cannot accurately predict which of their patients will respond.

11 Feb 2021

New model can help identify potential drug targets for ulcerative colitis

Scientists from the Lerner Research Institute at Cleveland Clinic have designed an innovative, patient-derived model of ulcerative colitis that will help scale up studies into new therapies for chronic inflammatory bowel disease.

12 Jan 2021

Researchers demonstrate potential preventive treatment for Crohn's disease

A potential preventive treatment for Crohn's disease, a form of inflammatory bowel disease, has been demonstrated in a mouse model and using immune-reactive T cells from patients with Crohn's disease.

22 Dec 2020

Research may lead to new strategies for calcium malabsorption

A Rutgers study has discovered that vitamin D regulates calcium in a section of the intestine that previously was thought not to have played a key role.

From Rutgers University 2 Dec 2020

Researchers find genetic correlations between inflammatory bowel disease and stress, depression

Using sophisticated 3D genomic mapping and integrating with public data resulting from genome-wide association studies (GWAS), researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have found significant genetic correlations between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and stress and depression.

30 Oct 2020

Severe ulcerative colitis linked to newly-discovered strain of oral bacteria

Severe ulcerative colitis - a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) - has been linked to a newly-discovered strain of oral bacteria, a study led by UNSW Sydney has found.

From The University of New South Wales (UNSW) 30 Oct 2020

Cell therapy designed to treat inflammatory bowel disease

The results obtained are encouraging and the researchers could make headway in a multifunctional cell therapy system to treat inflammatory bowel disease.

29 Sep 2020

Researchers uncover tissue reparative role for a rare immune cell in the gut

Scientists from King's College London have discovered an unexpected tissue reparative role for a rare immune cell type in the gut that could tip toward fibrosis or cancer if dysregulated.

9 Sep 2020

Lasting nature of IBD linked to long-lived immune cell that causes persistent inflammation

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of intestinal disorders affecting an estimated six to eight million people worldwide.

25 Aug 2020

Enzyme in the gut could provide a useful biomarker for intestinal diseases

Enzymes used by bacteria to break down mucus in the gut could provide a useful biomarker for intestinal diseases, according to new research published in Nature Communications.

12 Aug 2020

Chronic inflammation disrupts tissue structure of the colon, study finds

In a new study, researchers have compared diseased colon with healthy tissue to better understand how inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is linked to an increased risk of colorectal cancers, at a molecular level.

22 Jul 2020

Researchers identify key molecule that repairs the gut lining

Scientists have discovered a crucial biomolecule that improves the repair of a person’s gut lining by encouraging stem cells to regenerate impaired tissues.

21 Jul 2020

Organoids reveal inflammatory processes that play a role in infectious diseases

Research is employing mini-organs to model the digestive tract in the laboratory setting. These supposed organoids shed light on the inflammatory processes.

6 Jul 2020

Understanding protein-coding gene's role in IBD

A protein-coding gene associated with autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, collectively referred to as inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD, will be the focus of new research in the School of Medicine at the University of California, Riverside.

9 Jun 2020

Uncovering How 'Dark Matter' Regions Of The Genome Affect Inflammatory Diseases

A study has uncovered how variations in a non-protein coding 'dark matter' region of the genome could make patients susceptible to complex autoimmune diseases.

14 May 2020

Junk food consumed by U.S. adults is associated with inflammatory bowel disease

Foods like cookies, cheese, soda, and French fries are often present in the diets of U.S. adults suffering from inflammatory bowel disease.

7 May 2020

Important genetic mechanism behind inflammatory bowel disease revealed

Researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have pinpointed a genetic variation responsible for driving the development of inflammatory bowel disease.

10 Apr 2020

Multi-tissue model shows how different tissues account for various inflammatory diseases

Biological engineers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a multi-tissue model that allows them to analyze the associations between the immune system and different organs, on a dedicated microfluidic platform embedded with human cells.

From Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 19 Mar 2020