There are more treatments for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis available to prescribe than ever before. However, we lack tests, ‘biomarkers’ that can help predict which medication is best suited to a person. Without biomarkers to help choose the best treatment, patients may have longer disease flares that may be harder to treat. This area of research is called ‘precision medicine’.
We think that better understanding the bugs in the gut, called ‘microbes’ (bacteria, viruses and fungi) will allow us to predict whether someone is more or less likely to feel better with different treatments. This will help to make better decisions on which medicine to prescribe to different people.
We are already undertaking a large study called IBD-RESPONSE to study gut microbes in people with starting new treatments across the UK. We need to make sure our research findings are robust. To do this we want to carry out research on extra samples from a different group of people living with Crohn’s and colitis. This is an important part of all big research studies and is called ‘replication’. The NIHR IBD BioResource provides a great opportunity to access already collected stool samples from patients where there is data about response to treatment or need for surgery. As the NIHR IBD BioResource samples are already available, we can start analysis straight away. This will enable us to have results that can make a difference to patients faster.
Proving that the same biomarkers can be seen within the NIHR IBD BioResource and IBD-RESPONSE will mean our results can help as many patients, from as many backgrounds as possible. We hope our research can make the goal of ‘precision medicine’ a reality for people in the future.
Funding has been obtained for this research from Crohn’s & Colitis UK.
