Inflammatory Bowel Disease News and Research RSS Feed - Inflammatory Bowel Disease News and Research

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an ongoing or chronic health problem that causes inflammation and swelling in the digestive tract. The irritation causes bleeding sores called ulcers to form along the digestive tract. This in turn can cause crampy, abdominal pain and severe bloody diarrhea.

There are two main types of inflammatory bowel disease: ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). The diseases are very similar. In fact, doctors often have a hard time figuring out which type of IBD a person has. The main difference between UC and CD is the area of the digestive tract they affect. CD can occur along the entire digestive tract and spread deep into the bowel wall. In contrast, UC usually only affects the top layer of the large intestine (colon) and rectum. Medicine can control the symptoms of IBD in most women. But for people who have severe IBD, surgery is sometimes needed. Over the course of a person's life, the symptoms of IBD often come and go. With close monitoring and medicines, most people with IBD lead full and active lives.
Immune system attacks beneficial bacteria in several chronic human diseases

Immune system attacks beneficial bacteria in several chronic human diseases

The human gut is loaded with commensal bacteria - "good" microbes that, among other functions, help the body digest food. The gastrointestinal tract contains literally trillions of such cells, and yet the immune system seemingly turns a blind eye. However, in several chronic human diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, HIV/AIDS, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes, the immune system attacks these normally beneficial bacteria, resulting in chronic inflammation and contributing to disease progression. [More]

UC researchers identify biomarkers for inflammatory bowel disease

Using the Department of Defense Serum Repository, University of Cincinnati researchers have identified a number of biomarkers for inflammatory bowel disease, which could help with earlier diagnosis and intervention in those who have not yet shown symptoms. [More]
IBD patients are at higher risk of melanoma, report researchers

IBD patients are at higher risk of melanoma, report researchers

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are at higher risk of melanoma, a form of skin cancer, report researchers at Mayo Clinic. Researchers found that IBD is associated with a 37 percent greater risk for the disease. The findings were presented at the Digestive Disease Week 2013 conference in Orlando, Fla. [More]
AGA Research Foundation announces recipients of 2013 Student Research Fellowship Award

AGA Research Foundation announces recipients of 2013 Student Research Fellowship Award

The American Gastroenterological Association Research Foundation has announced the 2013 Student Research Fellowship Award recipients. The awards are intended to stimulate interest in research careers in digestive diseases among high school, undergraduate, graduate and medical school students. [More]
BioLineRx signs ATM sales agency agreement with Stifel

BioLineRx signs ATM sales agency agreement with Stifel

BioLineRx Ltd., a biopharmaceutical development company, announced today that it has entered into an at-the-market sales agency agreement with Stifel. [More]
Galapagos, AbbVie announce extension of GLPG0634 clinical development collaboration

Galapagos, AbbVie announce extension of GLPG0634 clinical development collaboration

Galapagos NV and AbbVie announced today an extension of their GLPG0634 clinical development collaboration to include Crohn's disease. Galapagos will fund and complete a Phase 2 program in Crohn's disease, which is designed to facilitate rapid progression into Phase 3. [More]

Changes in specific proteins contribute to 'leaky-gut' wall

Scientists at Trinity College Dublin have made an important advance in understanding the biological factors that keep the lining of the gut wall intact. Associate Professor, Maria O'Sullivan at Trinity's School of Medicine and St James's Hospital and colleagues, showed that changes in specific proteins may contribute to a 'leaky-gut' wall which may have important implications for common chronic digestive diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease. [More]
Simponi injection gets FDA approval to treat adults with ulcerative colitis

Simponi injection gets FDA approval to treat adults with ulcerative colitis

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved a new use for Simponi (golimumab) injection to treat adults with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis. [More]
Study says influenza immunization is safe in children with IBD

Study says influenza immunization is safe in children with IBD

Influenza immunization rates in children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are low despite its safety according to a new study by researchers at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI), and the University of Ottawa. [More]

Cleveland Clinic receives $2M for research in colorectal surgery

Kenneth M. Garschina and his wife, Sara Story, have pledged $2 million to Cleveland Clinic's Digestive Disease Institute to create an endowed chair for research in colorectal surgery. The donation coincides with the re-dedication of two previously funded endowed chairs. [More]

Researchers say tiny thymus teaches immune system to ignore foreign bacteria in gut

The tiny thymus teaches the immune system to ignore the teeming, foreign bacteria in the gut that helps you digest and absorb food, researchers say. [More]
BioLineRx starts enrollment in Phase I/II trial of BL-8020 for treatment of HCV

BioLineRx starts enrollment in Phase I/II trial of BL-8020 for treatment of HCV

BioLineRx, a biopharmaceutical development company, announced today enrollment of the first patient in a Phase I/II trial for BL-8020, an orally available, interferon-free treatment for the Hepatitis C virus. [More]
GI nematode infections combat obesity and improve related metabolic disorders

GI nematode infections combat obesity and improve related metabolic disorders

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, have shown in a mouse model that infection with nematodes (also known as roundworms) can not only combat obesity but ameliorate related metabolic disorders. [More]
Clinical Research Forum honors studies with potential to benefit human health and welfare

Clinical Research Forum honors studies with potential to benefit human health and welfare

Ten of the most outstanding clinical research projects from institutions around the country have been selected to receive the Clinical Research Forum's Annual Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Awards. [More]
Genetic study defines link between primary sclerosing cholangitis and other autoimmune diseases

Genetic study defines link between primary sclerosing cholangitis and other autoimmune diseases

Researchers have newly associated nine genetic regions with a rare autoimmune disease of the liver known as primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). This brings the total number of genetic regions associated with the disease to 16. [More]

Study: Use of anti-TNF therapies in RA patients does not increase risk of herpes zoster

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who initiated use of anti-tumor necrosis factor therapies were not at a higher risk of developing herpes zoster (shingles), compared with patients who initiated nonbiologic treatment regimens, according to research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and the Oregon Health and Science University. The findings appeared in the March 6, 2013, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). [More]
Phase IIa study shows safety and efficacy of BL-7040 in treating ulcerative colitis

Phase IIa study shows safety and efficacy of BL-7040 in treating ulcerative colitis

BioLineRx, a biopharmaceutical development company, announced today positive Phase IIa results for BL-7040, an orally available drug for treating inflammatory bowel disease. [More]
BioLineRx gets regulatory approvals in US to start BL-8040 Phase IIa trial for treatment of AML

BioLineRx gets regulatory approvals in US to start BL-8040 Phase IIa trial for treatment of AML

BioLineRx, a biopharmaceutical development company, announced today that it has received all necessary regulatory approvals in the US to commence a Phase IIa trial for BL-8040, for the treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia. [More]
FMT treatment improves symptoms in pediatric patients with active ulcerative colitis

FMT treatment improves symptoms in pediatric patients with active ulcerative colitis

A Spectrum Health clinical trial has found that fecal microbial transplantation (FMT) has resulted in the improvement or absence of symptoms in most pediatric patients with active ulcerative colitis. [More]

UNC study shows promise for uncovering true mechanisms of human stem cell biology

For the first time, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have isolated adult stem cells from human intestinal tissue. [More]