IBD Research at Mount Sinai

Ulcerative Colitis Patients Benefit From Stelara Induction: Patients with ulcerative who receive a single intravenous dose of Stelara experienced clinical, endoscopic and quality of life improvements, according to data from the UNIFI study presented at the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Meeting. Patients with moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis who received a single IV infusion of [Stelara (ustekinumab, Janssen)], either a 130 mg dose or a dose approximating 6 mg/kg induced clinical remission, endoscopic healing, clinical response, improved health-related quality of life and induced mucosal healing at week 8, Bruce E. Sands, MD, chief of the division of gastroenterology at the Mount Sinai Health System, said during his presentation. Learn more here: https://www.healio.com//ulcerative-colitis-patients-benefi

Investigators report that children diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) had triple the risk of death as adults compared with members of the general population. Ryan Ungaro, MD, assistant professor of gastroenterology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who was not involved with the research, said the study is important and shows the major impact IBD has on patients' lives. "While the absolute risk of death is low, it is alarming that the relative risk is quite elevated," said Dr. Ungaro. "This study highlights the need for further investigation into treatments and strategies, such as earlier diagnosis and intervention, that may decrease the risk of death in order to optimize care for IBD patients." You can learn more here: https://www.medpagetoday.com//inflammatoryboweldisea/75829

Vedolizumab to not only treat IBD but also HIV? Vedolizumab, a first-line treatment for inflammatory bowel disease that targets the alpha4beta7 protein, might be an important tool in the search for a cure for HIV, according to research published in Science Translational Medicine. Saurabh Mehandru, MD, associate professor of medicine and gastroenterology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said the scientists studying HIV have been interested in targeting the gut ...for some time. The latent reservoir ... the single greatest impediment to cure, that HIV remains sequestered to lymphocytes, both inside the intestine and outside the intestine, he said. Since the gut represents the largest aggregator of lymphoid collection in the body, it makes sense that the latent reservoir of HIV will have a major representation in the gut. Researchers observed an attrition of lymphoid aggregates, particularly in the terminal ileum. Dr. Mehandru said this was unexpected, adding that as researchers continue to dig into the mechanism through which vedolizumab targets the alpha4beta7 protein, it could help lead them to a cure for HIV. Learn more: https://www.healio.com//vedolizumab-could-be-used-to-targe

There is the expectation here at mount Sinai that medical research is being done to help patients and not theoretically, not in fifteen years but in the the short intermediate term says Dr. Judy Cho, Director of The Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine and Professor at the Department of Medicine and Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine. Check out the video below to learn more about our efforts in advancing medical research! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjH1-5rETfM

U.S. News & World Report What Is Gastroenteritis? The word "gastroenteritis" means inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, explains Ari Grinspan, MD, director of GI Microbial Therapeutics at the Susan and Leonard Feinstein Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at Mount Sinai. So in fact, calling it the stomach flu is a misnomer, since it actually affects the intestines and isn’t usually caused by influenza, which is a respiratory illness, he explains. "When we say stomach f...lu, we're really talking traditionally about a virus or bacteria that has taken hold briefly in your GI tract and causes gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea and vomiting, says Dr. Grinspan. Gastroenteritis isn't caused by one particular virus or bacteria, but rather describes the symptoms that result when any number of germs enter and wreak havoc on the digestive system. Learn more: https://health.usnews.com//articles/what-is-gastroenteritis

We are proud of Dr. Jean-Frederic Colombel for receiving the 2018 Sherman Prize for his excellent work in IBD! Read about his achievements here: https://bit.ly/2QAmM14 #ForYouForLife