Scientists pinpoint a hidden cause of inflammatory bowel disease
A study in the New England Journal of Medicine has linked some cases of inflammatory bowel disease to rogue antibodies that switch off interleukin-10, a natural brake on inflammation. The antibodies appeared in some Crohn's and colitis patients but not in healthy people, and one patient saw their disease resolve after treatment to remove them.
Researchers reporting in the New England Journal of Medicine may have solved a decades-old puzzle about inflammatory bowel disease, the umbrella term for Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Studying more than 4,900 patients, they found neutralizing antibodies against interleukin-10, a molecule that normally acts as a brake on inflammation in the gut. When these rogue antibodies block interleukin-10, that brake is released and inflammation runs unchecked. The antibodies turned up in roughly 3.5 percent of patients with the disease, but not in healthy people. In one case, a patient given treatment to shut down production of the antibodies saw them fade and their disease resolve. Researchers say the finding points to a distinct subtype of the disease that could one day be treated by targeting the antibodies directly, with larger trials still to come.