The treatment of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases has long been a challenge, particularly in young patients where disease manifestation often coincides with critical periods of education and early career development. Prompt diagnosis and treatment are crucial to prevent complications, including the development of bowel cancer. Researchers at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have made a groundbreaking discovery that significantly contributes to halting ongoing inflammatory processes, published in Nature Immunology.

Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, the two most common chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, can be debilitating and life-altering. While traditional treatments focus on suppressing the immune system as a whole, newer therapies aim to interrupt the inflammatory process by blocking specific messenger substances that drive inflammation in the body.

Prof. Ahmed Hegazy has been studying inflammatory processes in the gut and the immune system’s defense mechanisms for several years. He has identified the interaction between two immune messenger substances – interleukin-22 and oncostatin M – as the driving force behind chronic intestinal inflammation. This uncontrolled chain reaction amplifies inflammation, drawing more immune cells into the intestine like a fire that spreads.

The research team spent five years uncovering how the immune messenger oncostatin M triggers inflammatory responses. They used animal models and examined tissue samples from patients to study the different stages of chronic intestinal diseases. State-of-the-art single-cell sequencing showed that in inflamed gut tissue, there are many unexpected cell types with binding sites for oncostatin M.

Interestingly, interleukin-22 normally protects tissue but also makes the gut lining more sensitive to oncostatin M by increasing its receptors. This interaction between the two immune messengers works together and amplifies inflammation, much like a fire getting more fuel and spreading.

In their models, the researchers specifically blocked the binding sites for oncostatin M and saw a clear reduction in both chronic inflammation and cancer associated with it. The team’s experimental findings may soon translate into real-world therapy by disrupting the harmful interaction between interleukin-22 and oncostatin M.

A clinical trial is already underway to test an antibody that blocks the receptors for oncostatin M. This targeted treatment has the potential to revolutionize the management of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, particularly in patients with more severe forms of the illness. The discovery offers a new era in chronic inflammation treatment, providing hope for those affected by these debilitating conditions.

A recent study by researchers at WEHI in Melbourne, Australia has made groundbreaking discoveries about how our daily food choices can rapidly impact our gut health. The pre-clinical study revealed that even a few meals high in saturated fats can cause inflammation in the body, despite physical symptoms potentially taking years to appear.

The research found that the gut protective protein, IL-22, was rapidly depleted in mice after just two days of eating high-fat foods. This is a significant breakthrough that could help pinpoint how chronic inflammation occurs at its source.

Chronic inflammatory diseases, such as coeliac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and rheumatoid arthritis, affect about one in three Australians. However, the exact mechanism behind this inflammation remains largely unknown. The study’s findings suggest that our daily food choices can have an immediate effect on our gut health, paving the way for future interventions to boost gut health and tackle chronic inflammation.

Researchers also discovered that short-term exposure to high-fat diets can reduce the production of IL-22, a crucial protein that helps control gut inflammation. This is the first time the rapid impact of high-fat diets on this protein has been shown.

The study’s findings have significant implications for our understanding of how chronic inflammation arises and causes disease. By highlighting the importance of incorporating unsaturated fats into our diets to naturally boost gut protection, researchers hope their findings will influence dietary guidelines and promote better nutrition-based strategies for people at risk of chronic inflammatory diseases.

In summary, this research demonstrates the rapid impact of fatty meals on gut defenses and suggests that our daily food choices can have a significant effect on our gut health. The study’s findings could lead to new methods to restore or boost gut function for people living with chronic inflammatory diseases.

The discovery of a new approach to drug design, called GlycoCaging, has opened up promising possibilities for targeted treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in humans. This innovative technique involves releasing medicine directly into the lower gut at significantly lower doses than current therapies.

Researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) have developed this mechanism, which relies on specific bacteria residing in the human gut to unlock the “treasure chest” containing the medicine. By bonding a molecule to a steroid, the researchers have created a system that can deliver potent drugs directly to the inflamed areas of the gut.

According to Dr. Harry Brumer and Dr. Laura Sly, co-senior authors of the study published in Science, this technique has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of IBD, which affects an estimated 322,600 Canadians as of 2023. The current treatments for IBD often come with serious side effects, including osteoporosis, high blood pressure, diabetes, and negative mental health outcomes.

Using mice models of IBD, the researchers demonstrated that GlycoCaging can deliver medicine at doses up to 10 times lower than non-caged versions while achieving the same anti-inflammatory effects. The study showed that the drug was targeted exclusively to the gut, with minimal absorption in other areas of the body.

The potential for human treatment is promising, as the research team found that all people had the ability to activate the drugs using the GlycoCaging system, even those with IBD. Moreover, the majority of participants had genetic markers indicating their ability to use this system.

While more advanced animal trials and human clinical trials are needed to further validate the efficacy and safety of GlycoCaging, this innovative approach has the potential to transform the treatment of IBD and other gut-related disorders. The UBC researchers have patented the technology, paving the way for future development and implementation in humans.