Crohn's disease: Potential treatment to prevent fibrosis uncovered

Scientists from the University of British Columbia in Canada have found a mutation that switches off a hormone receptor, which prevents mice from developing fibrosis. This discovery could lead to potential treatments to prevent fibrosis in people with Crohn's disease.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) - which includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis - affects around 1.6 million people in the United States. Most people are diagnosed with Crohn's disease before age 35, and while these life-long conditions can be treated, there is currently no cure.

Crohn's disease is a long-term condition that causes inflammation to the lining of the digestive system. While the disease can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract, the most commonly affected areas are the end of the small intestine (the ileum) or the large intestine (colon).

Read more: Crohn's disease: Potential treatment to prevent fibrosis uncovered

Scientists can potentially block complications of fibrosis in Crohn's disease by dampening particular
inflammatory cell types.

Source: medicalnewstoday

Watch: Discovery offers hope for Crohn's disease sufferers

Cracking the Enigma of Fatty Liver Disease

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) affects one out of four people in the world, making it the most prevalent of all liver diseases and a major public health problem. The disease is defined by abnormally increased fat deposition in liver cells, which can progress with the addition of inflammation and cell damage to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), leading to progressive stages of fibrosis and, finally, cirrhosis. Early NASH is characterized by fat and inflammation associated with minimal amounts of fibrosis, and late NASH is associated with advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis. NAFLD is most closely associated with obesity and diabetes, although there are likely other genetic, nutritional, and environmental factors involved in the pathogenesis.

Although there are no approved pharmacologic treatments for NAFLD, NASH, or cirrhosis, there are over a dozen different companies researching possible treatments. However, the development of drug therapies for the NAFLD spectrum of disease is hampered by a number of challenges:

• the chronic nature of the disorder and ultimately low morbidity and mortality,
• the impact of weight loss on the disease,
• a complex and poorly defined pathophysiology,
• the lack of easily administered diagnostic testing, and
• the evolving status of regulatory endpoints.

Read more: Cracking the Enigma of Fatty Liver Disease

The results of multiple clinical trials over the next few years will clarify potential therapies and target
pathways.  © Sebastian Kaulitzki/Fotolia]

Source: genengnews