Principal Investigator: Guang-Yu Yang, MD Chronic inflammation is an important risk factor for cancer. Patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) face a significantly increased risk of developing colorectal cancers. Damaged DNA and genetic alterations can be caused by the inflammatory process. Identifying crucial inflammation-associated molecular events offers potential targets to predict and prevent cancers. Missense p53 mutations are one of the most common and earliest molecular events seen in UC-associated carcinogenesis. Yet little is known about the evolution of p53 mutations during the long-term course of UC and whether targeting these mutations will have an impact on the long-term cancer risk in patients with UC. Employing a next-generation sequencing approach, Dr. Yang’s study aims to determine the mutation spectrum and load of the p53 gene in this patient population. The researchers intend to identify whether specific p53 mutations are critical in driving UC-induced carcinogenesis, and to evaluate its role as an efficient biomarker for predicting the risk of cancer development in UC...
Principal Investigator: Emanuelle Bellaguarda, MD; Co-Principal Investigator: Stephen B. Hanauer, MD Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) often affects people in their reproductive years, with little known about the impact of anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive therapies on reproductive health. Men with IBD and their partners often request information on the effect of medication on male fertility. Fears and doubts significantly affect family planning as well as impact adherence to drug treatment and disease control. Fertility concerns emphasize the need to investigate the safety of drug treatment in these patients. Investigating the impact of two novel IBD treatments on sperm quality and genetic structure in male patients, Dr. Bellaguarda hopes to improve future patient care by ultimately enhancing patient counseling. Her team at Northwestern Memorial Hospital has joined forces with Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark to take advantage of the expert knowledge in the different centers within reproduction, medical treatment in IBD, and drug...
Principal Investigator: Shilajit D. Kundu, MD One million-plus Americans have IBD, accounting for more than two million ambulatory and emergency room visits annually. This health care utilization can lead to annual medical expenditures ranging from $5,000 to $8,000 per patient. Reducing unnecessary medical costs in this patient group is paramount. Take for example, PSA tests. While PSA screening can reduce prostate cancer deaths, false-positive elevations commonly occur, especially for patients with IBD. The Kundu research group recently found that men 65 and older with IBD, who underwent prostate cancer screening at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, had higher PSA values than non-IBD controls. In addition, men with IBD had a significantly higher risk of prostate cancer. However, whether the elevation in PSA is due to IBD-related inflammation versus a true reflection of an increased risk of prostate cancer remains unclear. Study findings may optimize how men with IBD are screened for prostate cancer by better assessing their risk while at the same time reducing needless medical...
Principal Investigator: Madeline McGuire Bertha, MD, MS Medical marijuana use has grown among patients attempting to tamp down the debilitating effects of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). However, no one knows if cannabis improves intestinal inflammation—critical to treating IBD. In fact, marijuana could be simply masking symptoms and delaying necessary medical treatment. To determine if that’s the case, Northwestern Medicine researchers led by internal medicine resident Madeline McGuire Bertha, MD, MS, will compare patients in symptomatic remission (feeling well/ without symptoms) who use marijuana to those in symptomatic remission who do not use it. The researchers suspect that while patients using cannabis feel fine, they actually may have a higher level of dangerous, underlying inflammatory activity than their perceived “lack of intestinal distress” might imply. Supported by a grant from the Digestive Health Foundation, the investigators will use blood and fecal tests to assess levels of intestinal inflammation in the two groups. In particular, they will focus on measuring a blood marker of inflammation, C-Reactive Protein, and a stool marker, fecal calprotectin. If the study hypothesis holds true, the IBD patients using marijuana as a proposed alternative or complementary therapy will be found to have significantly higher levels of these inflammatory markers compared to non-cannabis users who experience no symptoms. Findings of this study will help to advance the limited data assessing the therapeutic efficacy of cannabis on objective markers of intestinal inflammation in patients with IBD. These research efforts could have important clinical and societal implications as medical marijuana becomes more widespread. New knowledge in this area could help both ordering physicians and patients to make more informed...
Introducing a groundbreaking research technology, the The Digestive Health Foundation became a founding supporter in 2017 of a powerful new resource for digestive health medical research: The Digestive Health Foundation BioRepository. As one of only a few GI biorepositories of its kind in the world, the DHF BioRepository stores, organizes, and makes accessible (digitally, in real time) blood and tissue samples from patients and family members diagnosed with one or more of the digestive disorders treated at the Northwestern Medicine Digestive Health Center. Digestive disease research using the DHF BioRepository will leverage the latest advances in information technology with cutting-edge biologic and molecular research techniques to better understand gastrointestinal diseases and to help develop better treatment options for patients. Across GI sub-specialties, from liver and pancreatic cancers, esophageal diseases/swallowing disorders, inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s Disease and ulcerative colitis), GERD, IBS, bariatric surgery, nutritional issues, and many more, the extensive and growing patient network at Northwestern Medicine provides a diverse and valuable resource of participants. After a patient chooses to participate, Northwestern Medicine directly links the patient’s anonymized electronic medical record, physiologic diagnostic test results, imaging results, and patient-directed quality of life indicators to a tissue bank that will include: samples obtained during endoscopy (biopsies), blood, urine, and stool. The DHF BioRepository’s depth of capacity will enable physician scientists around the world to pursue large scale research studies into the mechanisms of digestive diseases. Discoveries about the natural history and progression of digestive disease is providing the insight necessary to develop new diagnostic tools, better treatments, and eventual cures for digestive disease patients and future generations. — The Digestive Health...
