Prev: Rx: New Therapies And Medications For Crohn's Disease
Next: Probiotics
From: news.chi.sbcglobal.net on 10 Jul 2008 18:03
Would there be an exact address for the "Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de
Lille, France" where this post indicates crohns is being studied. Post is
of interest for many reasons and would like to follow their research.
Thank You Gail

"zumone2002" <zumone2002(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:660a6c04-b4a2-4865-9570-9b20e1f91659(a)k30g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
> http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/114150.php
>
> New Therapies And Medications For Crohn's Disease
> 08 Jul 2008
>
> A New Drug Class article released on July 4, 2008 in The Lancet seeks
> to highlight a new group of drugs intended to treat Crohn's disease.
> Most current drugs seek to control the autoimmune response via the
> tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), but many new classes attempt
> to control other aspects of the immune response or even to reinforce
> the intestinal barrier itself.
>
> Crohn's Disease (CD) is a gastrointestinal disorder which is indicated
> by chronic inflammation of the wall of the digestive tract. Usually,
> regions of inflammation are separated by regions of normal lining,
> called skip lesions. The disease involves constant cycles of flare-ups
> and remission throughout the life of the patient, and is an
> inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), similar to ulcerative colitis. The
> primary gastrointestinal symptoms are abdominal pain, blood in the
> stool, diarrhea,constipation, vomiting, weight loss, or weight gain.
>
> Presently, the standard drug treatment of Crohn's disease attempt to
> inhibit tumor necrosis factor alpha, which would normally amplify the
> immune response. However, some novel therapies instead target other
> biochemical factors that initiate or participate in the immune
> response, often by controlling T-cells, an instrumental part of the
> immune response. Drugs such as visilizumab, daclizumab and basiliximab
> blockade specific T-cells from responding, and tocilizumab and
> fontolizumab actually prevent the formation or activation of T-cells.
> In another experimental therapeutic technique, T-cells are "reset"
> through bone-marrow transplants, which can bring extended remission.
>
> In addition to modulation of T-cell response, other approaches are
> being explored A new class of drugs hopes to modulate T-cell response
> while additionally attempting to reinforce the intestinal barrier by
> encouraging the repair processes in the intestinal lining.
> Additionally, a tolerance against the instigators of the immune
> response can be built orally by ingesting protein extracts, thus
> reducing the overall immune response in inflammatory bowel diseases.
>
> The authors, including Professor Jean-Frederic Colombel, Hopital
> Claude Huriez, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Lille, France, and
> colleagues, discuss the mechanisms and merits of all of these
> strategies. They conclude with a statement of hope for future
> therapies for this disease: "As a result of decades of intensive
> research, treatment for inflammatory bowel disease is undergoing a
> transition from the era of TNF antagonists to an era of new biological
> agents, including those that are able to stimulate the innate immune
> system. In parallel, clinicians are working on new strategies aimed at
> modification of the natural history of Crohn's disease, including an
> early aggressive therapeutic approach."
>
> --
> Luke


 | 
Pages: 1
Prev: Rx: New Therapies And Medications For Crohn's Disease
Next: Probiotics