Every day, our gut comes in contact with bacteria, inducing an inflammatory response that is tolerated and controlled. Sometimes the control of inflammation is lost and this can lead to inflammatory bowel disease that may predispose to colon cancer. Caspase-1, an important protein involved in the mechanism of inflammation, has long been believed to be one of the culprits behind excessive inflammation in the colon. Dr. Saleh’s team suggests the opposite in a new study…

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) suffer from chronic inflammation of the gut leading to gastrointestinal motility alterations with symptoms such as abdominal pain, cramps and diarrhea that profoundly affect their quality of life. The lack of exposure to worm infections, as a result of improved living standards and medical conditions, might have contributed to the increased incidence of IBD in the Western world. Epidemiological, experimental and clinical data support the idea that worm infection provides protection against IBD…

Patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis do perceive a benefit from thiopurine treatment. A report in the open access journal BMC Gastroenterology has demonstrated improved health-related quality of life in 92 IBD patients. Guillermo Bastida worked with a team of researchers from La Fe Hospital, Valencia, Spain, to investigate the controversial thiopurine treatment. He said, “The efficacy of thiopurines in the scenarios in which they are prescribed, either to induce or to maintain remission in IBD, is well proven…

Patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis do perceive a benefit from thiopurine treatment. A report in the open access journal BMC Gastroenterology has demonstrated improved health-related quality of life in 92 IBD patients. Guillermo Bastida worked with a team of researchers from La Fe Hospital, Valencia, Spain, to investigate the controversial thiopurine treatment. He said, “The efficacy of thiopurines in the scenarios in which they are prescribed, either to induce or to maintain remission in IBD, is well proven…

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a two-year development grant to researchers with Hasbro Children’s Hospital and the Bradley Hasbro Children’s Research Center to better understand the role behavioral health plays in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a condition that causes chronic and painful inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract…

Tioga Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the closing of an $18 million equity financing. Current investors Forward Ventures, New Leaf Venture Partners and BB Biotech Ventures were joined by new investor Genesys Capital Partners. The proceeds will be used to fund a Phase 3 clinical trial for asimadoline for the treatment of patients with diarrhea predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome (D-IBS). The trial, one of two registration trials required for approval in the United States, is a 600-subject randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-dose clinical trial in D-IBS patients…

Certain patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), both ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease of the colon, have an increased risk of developing colorectal cancer compared to individuals without IBD. A number of factors contribute to the increase in risk, which necessitates an individualized and sensible approach to surveillance in patients, according to a new medical position statement and technical review published by the American Gastroenterological Association in its official journal, Gastroenterology…

Researchers led by Dr. Terrence A. Barrett of Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago. Illinois have discovered that activation of NK-κB, an inflammatory mediator, results in diarrhea in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

New research by the University of Adelaide could help explain why some people are more prone to Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and other autoimmune diseases. A critical imbalance of the regulatory cells required to control the immune system has been revealed among people suffering inflammatory bowel disease. In a paper published in the Journal of Clinical Immunology this month, Pathology researcher Dr Nicola Eastaff-Leung reveals that people suffering Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis have fewer numbers of regulatory cells and more “attack” cells that cause inflammation…

A survey into the current situation of Britain’s Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) sufferers has thrown up an unexpected and worrying finding about a condition that affects one in five people.