Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which affects millions of people worldwide, is made up of various conditions that cause chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The two main conditions are ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.
Crohn’s disease can affect any part of the GI tract and causes discontinuous inflammation. Ulcerative colitis, however, only affects the large intestine and causes continuous inflammation. Ulcerative colitis has various symptoms which develop gradually over time such as fever, extreme fatigue, bloody stool, abdominal pain and weight loss.
Currently, diagnosis of IBD is a long and often invasive process that does not always provide accurate results. No serum biomarkers are known that are able to distinguish between UC and Crohn’s disease.
However, in 2021, T. Kuwada et al. identified integrin αVβ6 antibody as a potential biomarker for UC. The auto-antibody is mainly seen in patients with ulcerative colitis compared to other IBD conditions.
Anti-integrin αVβ6 auto-antibodies target the integrin αVβ6 antibody which binds to fibronectin to hold together the structure of the mucosal tissue in the large intestine. In UC the auto-antibody deteriorates the binding of this. Through this mechanism, researchers in Japan have created an Anti-Integrin αvβ6 ELISA Kit (RUO) in partnership with MBL Japan. It is hoped that this kit will be able to be used instead of blood samples or serology to make the process more accurate overall.
Further Information
For more information why not check out the Anti-Integrin αvβ6 ELISA Kit (RUO) or contact us for more details?
References
Shentova, Rayna & Yankov, Ivan. (2022). Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis. 10.5772/intechopen.102226.
T. Kuwada et al., Identification of an Anti-Integrin αvβ6 Autoantibody in Patients With Ulcerative Colitis.,
Gastroenterology. 2021 Jun;160(7):2383-2394.e21. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2021.02.019. Epub 2021 Feb 12.
Y. Muramoto et al., Anti-Integrin αvβ6 Antibody as a Diagnostic Marker for Pediatric Patients With Ulcerative Colitis.,
Gastroenterology. 2022 Oct;163(4):1094-1097.e14. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2022.06.026. Epub 2022 Jun 13.
A. E. Livanos et al., Anti-Integrin αvβ6 Autoantibodies Are a Novel Biomarker That Antedate Ulcerative Colitis.,
Gastroenterology. 2023 Apr;164(4):619-629.