Inflammatory Bowel Disease

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.

What is Ulcerative Colitis?

Ulcerative colitis is a chronic condition that affects the large intestines, particularly the colon. It is classified as one of the two inflammatory bowel diseases along with Crohn’s disease.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) in Pregnancy

Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Colorectal Cancer

Short-Chain Fatty Acids (SCFAs)

Ulcerative Colitis Causes

FODMAP Research

Dysbiosis and the Microbiome

Genetics of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

Mesentery: a new organ?

Latest Inflammatory Bowel Disease News and Research

Stem cell model identifies promising therapy for inflammatory bowel disease

A new study published today in Stem Cell Reports demonstrates how a human stem cell-derived model of the intestine can be used to identify potential therapies for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), highlighting glycyrrhizin as a promising candidate for reducing intestinal inflammation and cell death.

17 Apr 2026

EV-RNAs show promise for IBD diagnosis and treatment

A research team led by Sir Run-Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, has published a comprehensive review in ExRNA that sorts out the diverse roles of extracellular vesicle-associated RNAs (EV-RNAs) in the development and progression of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

10 Apr 2026

IBS diagnosis gaps persist across racial and gender groups in the U.S.

A national survey study led by UCLA Health and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center found significant disparities in how irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, is diagnosed across sex and racial groups in the U.S., with men and Black patients considerably less likely than women and white patients to receive a formal diagnosis.

9 Apr 2026

Gut microbiota regulates intestinal epithelial cell function and plasticity

A research team led by scientists from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in São Paulo, Brazil, has made significant progress in understanding the relationship between gut microbiota and intestinal cells.

7 Apr 2026

Chronic colitis reshapes colon stem cells in ways that can accelerate tumour growth

Researchers showed that chronic colitis leaves a long-lasting epigenetic memory in colonic stem cells, persisting for more than 100 days after recovery in mice. This memory is marked by durable AP-1-linked chromatin changes and later amplifies tumour outgrowth after oncogenic mutation.

29 Mar 2026

Advanced endoscopic technique successfully treats early-stage colorectal cancer

In the months before his wedding, Queens resident Roberto Pineda Sanchez noticed persistent rectal bleeding, a dangerous symptom he almost ignored.

27 Mar 2026

Guselkumab shows minor added benefit for specific Crohn's disease patients

The human monoclonal antibody guselkumab has been approved for certain adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis since April 2025.

27 Mar 2026

Vitamin D may help shape how the immune system responds to gut bacteria in IBD patients

Vitamin D supplementation may help shape how the immune system responds to gut bacteria in people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to a Mayo Clinic–led study published in Cell Reports Medicine.

26 Mar 2026

Whole wheat diets may reduce the risk of inflammatory bowel disease

Enriching the diet with wheat fiber protects mice against intestinal inflammation, according to a study published by researchers in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences (IBMS) at Georgia State University.

25 Mar 2026

IGFBP1 identified as potential biomarker for IBD monitoring in elderly patients

A recent study published in Current Molecular Pharmacology highlights the potential of insulin-like growth factor binding protein 1 (IGFBP1) as a monitoring biomarker for disease activity in elderly patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

24 Mar 2026

Machine learning speeds up AMP discovery for treating ulcerative colitis

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease characterized by recurrent intestinal inflammation, abdominal pain and diarrhea.

23 Mar 2026

How one antibiotic dose can reshape your gut microbiome for years

Long-term registry-linked analysis of nearly 15,000 adults shows that antibiotic use is associated with persistent changes in gut microbiome diversity and composition for up to 4–8 years. These effects vary by antibiotic class, with clindamycin, fluoroquinolones, and flucloxacillin showing the strongest and most sustained associations.

17 Mar 2026

How somatic mutations shape disease and reveal new drug targets

Researchers reviewed how somatic mutations accumulate in normal and diseased tissues, showing that natural selection can expand clones that influence disease risk, tissue adaptation, or cellular resilience. The study proposes somatic genomics as a powerful strategy to uncover disease mechanisms and identify new therapeutic targets across multiple conditions.

8 Mar 2026

New collaboration explores familial inflammatory bowel disease in Saudi Arabia

Mount Sinai and King Saud University Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, today announced a three-year collaboration aimed at better understanding why inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) runs in some Saudi families, and how that knowledge can lead to risk ascertainment, earlier diagnosis and more personalized treatment options.

3 Mar 2026

New research initiative aims to predict and prevent diseases before they start

What if doctors could tell you a disease was coming years before you felt a single symptom-and stop it in its tracks? That is the goal of a sweeping new research initiative launched by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in collaboration with the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) and the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (HJF).

2 Mar 2026

Forecasting disease intensity through genomic risk

Approximately 60,000 Danes live with chronic inflammatory bowel disease. Some experience limited discomfort, while others go through a debilitating disease course involving surgery and a stoma. Add to this the fear of leaving home due to urgent toilet needs.

2 Mar 2026

Tick-derived protein discovery can advance treatment for inflammatory diseases

When the immune system detects a harmful or foreign agent it triggers an inflammatory response small proteins called chemokines direct immune cells to the site of the injury or infection, resulting in the invader being inactivated.

27 Feb 2026

Routine terminal ileum intubation and biopsy: A standard practice for colonoscopy completion

Terminal ileum intubation is considered the completion step of colonoscopy and is usually performed to assess the ileum.

27 Feb 2026

Distinct gut toxicity patterns emerge with targeted cancer treatments

A new paper was published in Volume 13 of Oncoscience on February 6, 2026, titled "Gastrointestinal toxicity of targeted cancer therapies in the United States: Clinicopathologic patterns, FDA safety frameworks, and implications for national patient protection."

20 Feb 2026

Blood markers can indicate people at risk of developing ulcerative colitis

Researchers at örebro University have identified blood markers that can indicate who is at risk of developing ulcerative colitis - a chronic inflammatory bowel disease - later in life.

20 Feb 2026