The novel findings by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania provide a possible path to better targeted and more personalized approaches to treating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The researchers' work was published in Gastroenterology.

Estimated to affect nearly seven million people worldwide, IBD is a catch-all term that covers multiple disorders involving inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. Most cases are of Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, which have different clinical presentations and tend to affect the gut in different patterns. However, there is enough symptom overlap that the two diseases can be challenging to distinguish.

Read more...