Some Interesting and Recent Studies on IBD

Today, as I was searching the web for some fun facts we may not have touched on regarding IBD, I came across a recent news article that caught my attention. Published only yesterday, the lay article citing a very recent study on IBD spoke of a vaccine currently in development which, “can delay IBD development, control inflammation and thereby reduce the risk of future cancers.” The vaccine targets the MUC1 protein produced by the body which is found in large amounts in a patient with IBD. When tested in animal models the vaccine was shown to delay the onset of IBD symptoms which then reduced the risk of colon cancer. This recent finding could lead to a possible therapeutic option to lesson or delay the symptoms of IBD in a patient. I attempted to find the original article published in Cancer Prevention Research but was unable to do so due to the recent date of the publication.

Here is the link to the lay article I found online:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/sci/2010-03/25/c_13223568.htm

Here is a website with more information and specifics about the MUC1 protein:

http://www.genecards.org/cgi-bin/carddisp.pl?gene=Muc1

Also when I was scouring the web for different IBD tid-bits I came across a nice question and answer site with a good general overview of what is known today about IBD. It contains much of the terminology covered throughout the articles we have read over the past two weeks. Here it is:

http://www.ittakesmorethanguts.com/media/faq.htm

The final article that caught my eye on my search proposed a connection between IBD and venous thromboembolisms. The study shows that patients suffering from IBD are sixteen times as likely to have a venous thromboembolism than people who do not have IBD. The study followed 13,756 patients with IBD and 71,672 healthy controls. Of the subjects, 139 IBD patients reported a venous thromboembolism and 165 reported cases in the control group.

Here is a link to the lay article:

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Gastroenterology/InflammatoryBowelDisease/18362

Here is a link to the journal article:

Grainge M, et al "Venous thromboembolism during active disease and remission in inflammatory bowel disease: a cohort study" Lancet 2010; DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61963-2.

The main page where I found this article has quite a few articles about IBD. Here is the link to that if you would like to read more:

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Gastroenterology/InflammatoryBowelDisease/