Northwestern Is Testing Experimental Therapies For Crohn's Disease

[Guest guest]

Source:   Northwestern University (http://www.nwu.edu/)

Date:   Posted 8/9/2002

Northwestern Is Testing Experimental Therapies For Crohn's Disease

CHICAGO --- Researchers at the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at

Northwestern University are conducting clinical trials of several innovative

approaches to the treatment of Crohn's disease, including experimental drugs

and a new swallowable video camera that produces high-quality images of the

small intestine.

Research related to these Crohn's disease studies appears in the Aug. 8

issue of The New England Journal of Medine.

In addition to aiding diagnosis by affording a more complete view of the

small intestine without pain or discomfort to the patient, the

" camera-in-a-capsule " enables physicians to direct appropriate treatment and

determine the effect of new medications for Crohn's disease.

The studies are headed by Alan Buchman, M.D., associate professor of

medicine at The Feinberg School of Medicine and director of the Inflammatory

Bowel Disease Center at Northwestern.

Crohn's is a serious inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract that

causes diarrhea, abdominal cramps, fever and rectal bleeding. The cause of

Crohn's disease is unknown.

Among the experimental medications for Crohn's disease undergoing

investigation at Northwestern is a synthetic, oral form of interleukin-11, a

chemical produced by white blood cells in response to inflammation. This

study of interleukin-11 for Crohn's disease is the first to be conducted in

humans.

Research has shown that interleukin-11 is both an anti-inflammatory agent

and a potent growth factor that aids in the healing process. Other drugs

used to treat Crohn's disease, such as prednisone, only reduce inflammation.

In a separate study, Northwestern also is assessing the use of

interleukin-11 in ulcerative colitis.

Northwestern will be studying two experimental drugs for Crohn's disease

that prevent inflammation by blocking the process by which white blood cells

adhere to areas of inflammation in the bowel.

Another investigational study for Crohn's disease will focus on a drug that

blocks production of an inflammation-causing chemical known as tumor

necrosis factor.

For information on these and other studies for the treatment of Crohn's

disease and ulcerative colitis, contact the Northwestern Inflammatory Bowel

Disease Center at (312) 695-4IBD (or 4423).