Health

New protein may help diagnose ulcerative colitis


More than five million people worldwide have inflammatory bowel disease, a common descriptor for a class of disorders that includes ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Both diseases cause significant pain, diarrhea and bleeding, the result of inflammation and damage along the large intestine. Despite the prevalence of IBD, diagnosis currently still requires extensive, invasive testing, including colonoscopy, endoscopic ultrasound, and more. Symptoms can be controlled, but there is no cure and the cause is unknown.

First author Yoichi Kakuta, associate professor, Department of Gastroenterology at Tohoku University Hospital, said: “We found that patients with inflammatory bowel disease, especially ulcerative colitis, have increased levels of resistance high body is programmed to target endothelial protein C receptors.

Called anti-EPCR antibodies, they are made by the body’s immune system to fight off a natural presence in the body, rather than an invading pathogen. The presence of these self-attacking antibodies is a sign of autoimmune disorders, such as ulcerative colitis. The problem, says Kakuta, is determining which autoantibodies are associated with which disorders.

Previously, researchers had identified the same anti-EPCR antibody in patients with Takayasu’s arteritis, a disorder that causes blood vessels to become inflamed and can be complicated by ulcerative colitis. To further explore the potential link between antibodies and ulcerative colitis, they analyzed blood samples from 303 patients, 203 patients with inflammatory bowel disease, and 100 without the disease in Japan and the United States. .

“Anti-EPCR antibodies were found to be specifically expressed in patients with inflammatory bowel disease when compared with healthy subjects and other colorectal diseases, with particularly high sensitivity for those with colorectal cancer,” said Kakuta. patient with ulcerative colitis,” Kakuta said.

The researchers also found that more than 93 percent of patients with ulcerative colitis, arthritis, and immune-related skin conditions were positive for this antibody. According to Kakuta, this shows a strong association with systemic inflammatory complications, similar to what they observed in patients with Takayasu’s arteritis.

Next, the researchers plan to elucidate the underpinning mechanism of how antibodies are involved in the development of ulcerative colitis, with the goal of developing a treatment and diagnostic blood test.

“When a patient presents with symptoms such as diarrhea or bloody stools to the general clinic, ulcerative colitis can be easily diagnosed by testing the antibody levels in the blood,” says Kakuta. “Rapid diagnosis means that patients can be referred to a specialist as soon as possible.”

Source: Eurekalert



Source link

news7h

News7h: Update the world's latest breaking news online of the day, breaking news, politics, society today, international mainstream news .Updated news 24/7: Entertainment, Sports...at the World everyday world. Hot news, images, video clips that are updated quickly and reliably

Related Articles

Back to top button