Interesting new antiinflammatory molecule for IBD

[Guest guest]

Dear All;

I thought that this article looks like a promising new approach for

controlling IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) in a mouse model of

colitis:

___________________

Published online before print March 7, 2006

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 10.1073/pnas.0508997103

Cortistatin, an antiinflammatory peptide with therapeutic action in

inflammatory bowel disease.

Elena -Rey *, Nieves Varela *, Amir F. Sheibanie , Alejo

Chorny *, Doina Ganea , and Delgado *

*Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicine, Consejo Superior de

Investigaciones Científicas, 18100 Granada, Spain; and Department of

Biological Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey,

Newark, NJ 07102

Edited by Arthur Weiss, University of California School of Medicine,

San Francisco, CA, and approved January 11, 2006 (received for

review October 17, 2005)

Cortistatin is a recently discovered cyclic neuropeptide related to

somatostatin that has emerged as a potential endogenous

antiinflammatory factor based on its production by, and binding to,

immune cells. Crohn's disease is a chronic debilitating disease

characterized by severe T helper 1 (Th1)-driven inflammation of the

gastrointestinal tract. The aim of this study is to investigate the

therapeutic effect of cortistatin in a murine model of colitis.

Cortistatin treatment significantly ameliorated the clinical and

histopathologic severity of the inflammatory colitis, abrogating

body weight loss, diarrhea, and inflammation and increased the

survival rate of the colitic mice. The therapeutic effect was

associated with down-regulation of inflammatory and Th1-driven

autoimmune response, including the regulation of a wide spectrum of

inflammatory mediators. In addition, a partial involvement of

regulatory IL-10-secreting T cells in this therapeutic effect was

demonstrated. Importantly, cortistatin treatment was therapeutically

effective in established colitis and avoided the recurrence of the

disease. This work identifies cortistatin as an antiinflammatory

factor with the capacity to deactivate the intestinal inflammatory

response and restore mucosal immune tolerance at multiple levels.

Consequently, cortistatin represents a multistep therapeutic

approach for the treatment of Crohn's disease and other Th1-mediated

inflammatory diseases.

( autoimmunity | cytokines | inflammation | neuroimmunology )

www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0508997103

_________________

It is interesting for another reason. If you look up the Cortistatin

gene in OMIM (Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man) it is located on

chromosome 1 (location 1p36):

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/dispomim.cgi?id=602784

This is virtually the same location (1p36) as the IBD7 gene:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/dispomim.cgi?id=605225

So " Cortistatin " becomes a potential candidate for the IBD7 gene!

It is also interesting because " Cortistatin " has previously been

shown to regulate sleep ... could this be a lead to explain

mysterious sleep disturbances in IBD/PSC?

Best regards,

Dave

(father of (20); PSC 07/03; UC 08/03)