A new class of drugs has been found to dramatically reduce bowel inflammation in a study of mice.
Dog-bone shaped molecules attached to an existing treatment for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) were shown to reduce inflammation by almost 90%.
The breakthrough could lead to new, more effective treatments for forms of IBD that are currently incurable.
The study, by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, was published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.
IBD is a chronic condition that causes inflammation of the digestive tract. Symptoms can include abdominal pain, diarrhoea, and weight loss.
There are two main types of IBD: Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
Crohn’s disease can affect any part of the digestive tract, from the mouth to the anus. Ulcerative colitis only affects the large intestine.
Both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis can be debilitating and, in some cases, life-threatening.
There is no cure for IBD, but there are treatments that can help to manage the symptoms.
The most common treatments for IBD include mesalamine, corticosteroids, and immunomodulators.
The new study investigated the potential effectiveness of adding dog-bone shaped molecules to mesalamine.
Mesalamine is a drug that is used to treat mild to moderate IBD.
The researchers found that the dog-bone shaped molecules significantly reduced inflammation in mice with IBD.
The researchers believe that the dog-bone shaped molecules work by blocking a protein that is involved in the inflammatory process.
The study is the first to show that dog-bone shaped molecules can be used to treat IBD.
The researchers say that more research is needed to determine if the molecules are safe and effective in humans.
However, the findings are promising and could lead to new, more effective treatments for IBD.
Dr. David A. Gewirtz, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the lead author of the study, said: .
