ScienceDaily (Jun. 16, 2008) — Two research studies evaluating dietary changes and complementary medicine for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) have been launched at Rush University Medical Center. Funded by the National Institute of Health, one study will look at the impact of mind/body medicine on patients suffering from ulcerative colitis (UC) and the other will assess how diet impacts patients with Crohn’s Disease.

There are two main types of IBD, Crohn’s disease and UC, which afflict approximately one million Americans. These diseases cause chronic inflammation of the intestinal tract, causing a variety of symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea and rectal bleeding.

"Both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are due to an autoimmune response to the bacteria or bacterial antigens inside the intestines,” said Dr. Ali Keshavarzian, director of digestive diseases and nutrition at Rush and principal investigator and co-investigator on the studies. “Basically, the immune system is having an abnormally aggressive reaction to the bacteria."

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ScienceDaily (Jun. 5, 2008) — The discovery of new genetic mutations involved in inflammatory intestinal disorders could lead to a better understanding of these common conditions, two scientists told the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics June 2.

Dr.Alexandra Zhernakova, from the Utrecht University Medical Centre, Utrecht, the Netherlands, and Dr. Eleonora Festen, from the University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands, both working in the group of Professor Cisca Wijmenga, said that they had found common origins for two inflammatory diseases of the bowel, and that understanding the genetic profiles of these diseases will lead to better diagnosis, prevention, and, in the longer term, treatment. The research provides further support for the theory that common genetic factors are involved in a range of auto-immune and inflammatory diseases

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ScienceDaily (May 28, 2008) — A naturally occurring molecule made by symbiotic gut bacteria may offer a new type of treatment for inflammatory bowel disease, according to scientists at the California Institute of Technology.

"Most people tend to think of bacteria as insidious organisms that only make us sick," says Sarkis K. Mazmanian, an assistant professor of biology at Caltech, whose laboratory examines the symbiotic relationship between "good" bacteria and their mammalian hosts. Instead, he says, "bacteria can be beneficial and actively promote health."

For example, the 100 trillion bacteria occupying the human gut have evolved along with the human digestive and immune systems for millions of years. Some harmful microbes are responsible for infection and acute disease, while "other bacteria, the more intelligent ones, have taken the evolutionary route of shaping their environment by positively interacting with the host immune system to promote health, which gives them an improved place to live; it's like creating bacterial nirvana," says Mazmanian.

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ScienceDaily (May 22, 2008) — Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) afflicts as many as 10 out of 100,000 people in the United States and currently available treatment options are short-term and invasive with toxic side effects. Northeastern University professor Mansoor Amiji and his team are successfully developing a safe and effective, orally administered non-viral gene delivery system that promises a painless treatment option with long-term effects and aims to ultimately replace the frequent injection regimen offered to patients today.ScienceDaily (May 22, 2008) — Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) afflicts as many as 10 out of 100,000 people in the United States and currently available treatment options are short-term and invasive with toxic side effects. Northeastern University professor Mansoor Amiji and his team are successfully developing a safe and effective, orally administered non-viral gene delivery system that promises a painless treatment option with long-term effects and aims to ultimately replace the frequent injection regimen offered to patients today.

The most recent findings of the four-year project evaluating the efficiency of Nanoparticles-in-Microsphere Oral Systems (NiMOS) oral gene delivery system have just been published.

The article discusses the effectiveness of oral interleukin-10 or IL-10 (anti-inflammatory protein molecules) gene therapy for the treatment of IBD. The findings indicate that upon oral administration of NiMOS, transfection and local expression of IL-10 can not only suppress the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, but can also increase body weight, restore colon length and weight, and suppress inflammatory tissue response.

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