A new study led by investigators from Newcastle University and the Wellcome Sanger Institute is aiming to reveal disease biomarkers in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and identify new and personalised ways to predict, monitor and treat Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
The Open-IBD study will involve research institutions, hospitals, pharmaceutical partners and patients.
Responsible for chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis affect more than 540,000 people in the UK, according to Crohn’s & Colitis UK.
Supported by more than £11m in funding from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and Open Targets, researchers will collect genomic and clinical data from 1,000 IBD patients across the UK at multiple points for up to four years to produce a data resource containing molecular, cellular, bacterial, viral and genetic information for researchers worldwide.
While also aiming to uncover what drives IBD onset and severity, newly identified biomarkers could be used to monitor and identify patients who would benefit most from certain treatments and find potential targets for new drug development.
The Open-IBD study, which was launched ahead of this year’s World IBD Day (19 May 2024), will recruit patients as early as when they are first referred to hospitals with suspected IBD and before any treatment has been provided and aims to recruit the first patients by early 2025.
Researchers will collect blood and stool samples from patients on referral to the hospital, as well as clinical information from questionnaires and biopsy samples from patients who undergo a diagnostic colonoscopy.
For a further two years, samples will be collected from patients at regular intervals, such as a second colonoscopy a year after diagnosis and a biopsy.
Blood samples collected will be analysed using single-cell RNA sequencing, while stool samples will undergo metagenomics shotgun sequencing and RNA gene sequencing and DNA samples will be sequenced to identify genetic factors underpinning disease progression and prognosis.
The Wellcome Sanger Institute and Open Targets’ Dr Carl Anderson, Open-IBD scientific lead, commented: “We hope that Open-IBD will unravel the mysteries of this condition and empower partnerships between academia, industry and the NHS to develop new ways to diagnose, monitor and treat IBD.”