inflammatory bowel disease tagged posts

Probiotics can help maintain a healthy gut microbiome or restore populations of “good bacteria” after a heavy course of antibiotics. But now, they could also be used as an effective treatment strategy for certain intestinal diseases, such as Crohn’s disease. Researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have developed a microgel delivery system for probiotics that keeps “good” bacteria safe while actively clearing out “bad” ones. In mice, the system treated intestinal inflammation without side effects.

In the digestive system, there’s a delicate balance of bacterial populations...

Diet rich in sugar, fat damages immune cells in digestive tracts of mice. Eating a Western diet impairs the immune system in the gut in ways that could increase risk of infection and inflammatory bowel disease, according to a study from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Cleveland Clinic.

The study, in mice and peop...

Scientists from the Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago demonstrated that a nanotherapy reduces intestinal inflammation and shrinks lesions in a rodent model of severe Crohn’s disease. This approach could become an alternative to biologic antibody therapies that carry many side effects, including increased risk of certain cancers. It might also prevent the need for surgery in the future. Findings were published in the journal Advanced Therapeutics.

Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the digestive tract, most often in the small intestine...

Men with inflammatory bowel disease have 4 to 5 times higher risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer, reports a 20-year study from Northwestern Medicine. This is the first report to show men with inflammatory bowel disease have higher than average PSA (prostate-specific antigen) values, and this group also has a significantly higher risk of potentially dangerous prostate cancer.

About 1 million men have inflammatory bowel disease in the U.S. Inflammatory bowel disease is a common chronic condition that includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. “These patients may need to be screened more carefully than a man without inflammatory bowel disease,” said lead study author Dr...