Understanding inflammatory bowel disease diagnostics and surgical management of ulcerative colitis.

What is it about?

The overall goal of this project is to develop a viable and amenable tool that will permit diagnostic accuracy of inflammatory bowel disease. We have developed a set of criteria (based on serum and tissue profiling) for analyzing specific proteins referred to as a “proteome”. Based on successful convincing novel data, we intend to identify these unique proteins of interest. These proteins appear to differentiate ulcerative colitis from Crohn’s disease of the colon (Crohn's colitis(CC)) and from normal controls. With this tool, physicians will be able to avoid indeterminate colitis (IC) misdiagnoses and prescribe appropriate surgical care for the hitherto IC classified patients. Moreover, our data will also explore the possibility of potential therapeutic target for treating IBD.

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Why is it important?

Successful surgical treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases depend on correct diagnosis. Our plan is to develop a viable tool that can allow accurate discrimination of inflammatory bowel disease. An accurate diagnosis prior to initiating medical therapy or performing colectomy surgery is of paramount importance in terms of medical care, surgical intervention, and prognosis. Most IC and CC patients are presumed UC and are operated subsequently are found to develop a recurrent de novo Crohn's disease in the ileal pouch. This is a serious complication that leads to functional failure and may hinder the restoration of intestinal continuity often necessitate a permanent end ileostomy, a complication of which both patients and Doctors would like to avoid.

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