Health
Study discovers 'trigger gene' in IBD as researchers look for drugs to prevent the bowel disease
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) — which includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis — affects around 3.1 million U.S. adults.
The disease can cause debilitating symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal pain and cramping, blood in the stool and more.
Now, researchers at the U.K.’s Francis Crick Institute, working with UCL and Imperial College London, have discovered a genetic component — referred to as a “weak spot” in the DNA — that is present in 95% of those living with the disorder.
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The study, published in the journal Nature earlier this month, identified a section of DNA that boosts the activity of a gene called ETS2.
ETS2 has been linked to inflammatory functions that increase the chances of IBD.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can cause debilitating symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal pain and cramping, blood in the stool and more. (iStock)
Rosario Ligresti, M.D., chief of the Division of Gastroenterology at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, was not involved in the research but called the findings “quite important.”
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“The researchers finally showed that all autoimmune and inflammatory disease — including IBD — appear to be caused by a single gene, ETS2,” he told Fox News Digital.
“The research identified this gene as a central regulator of a type of inflammatory cell called the macrophage, which is the main inflammatory cell in all these processes.”
“IBD usually develops in young people and can cause severe symptoms that disrupt education, relationships, family life and employment.”
“The more the gene was ‘turned on’ or amplified, the greater the risk of inflammation. Without this gene, these cells do not ‘turn on’ and there is no IBD.”
While diet and stress have long been suspected to worsen IBD, the exact “‘molecular switch’ that activates inflammatory bowel disease has been unknown until now,” Ligresti noted.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) — which includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis — affects around 3.1 million U.S. adults. (iStock)
“This discovery is so exciting and significant because it only gives us a better understanding of the inner workings of the disease, and it will allow researchers to adapt existing drugs to finally treat it,” added Ligresti.
The research team is now investigating drugs that could reduce the activity of the ETS2 gene, thus reducing the occurrence of IBD.
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They found that a group of existing anti-inflammatory medications called MEK inhibitors could do the trick.
“Although there have been many factors suggested as risks for IBD, there is currently no way to prevent the onset of IBD,” Ligresti said.
“The researchers finally showed that all autoimmune and inflammatory disease — including IBD — appear to be caused by a single gene, ETS2,” a researcher (not pictured) told Fox News Digital. (iStock)
“We do know, however, that inflammatory pathways in the body are likely activated at least five years before the onset of symptoms of IBD.”
Ideally, he said, patients at increased risk could be given a drug during this window of time that could “nip IBD in the bud.”
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While more research is needed to find ways to deliver these MEK inhibitors to the target cells, Ligresti noted that this finding opens a “tantalizing door” to the future of very effective therapies to “shut off” inflammatory bowel disease.
The research team is now investigating drugs that could reduce the activity of the ETS2 gene, thus reducing the occurrence of IBD. (iStock)
James Lee, group leader of the Genetic Mechanisms of Disease Laboratory at the Crick, who led the research, agreed that better treatments are “urgently needed.”
“IBD usually develops in young people and can cause severe symptoms that disrupt education, relationships, family life and employment,” Lee said in a Crick press release.
“Using genetics as a starting point, we’ve uncovered a pathway that appears to play a major role in IBD and other inflammatory diseases,” he said.
“Excitingly, we’ve shown that this can be targeted therapeutically, and we’re now working on how to ensure this approach is safe and effective for treating people in the future.”
Inflammatory bowel diseases, including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, often occur early in life, experts say. (iStock)
Lauren Golightly, 27, was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 2018 after experiencing stomach cramps, bleeding and irregular bowel habits, according to the release.
“I’ve had a rocky road since diagnosis, with many hospital admissions, several different medications and even surgery to have a temporary stoma bag,” she said in the release.
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“I still experience flare-ups and can still spend quite a bit of time in hospital.”
She also said, “Learning about this research is so exciting and encouraging. I am hopeful this could potentially make a difference for myself and so many other hundreds of thousands of people living with IBD.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers for additional comment.
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A 78-year-old Oklahoma woman who was diagnosed with polio as a child and was the last American to rely on an iron lung to live has died.
Martha Lillard found out she had the once-feared disease when she was 5 years old, which left her paralyzed from the neck down, and required her to use the machine to help her breathe while she slept.
Lillard contracted COVID-19 twice during the pandemic, which left her in the machine nearly 24 hours a day.
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“They told her she wasn’t supposed to live past 20 years old,” her younger sister, Cindy McVey, told The Associated Press on Friday. “She had the enthusiasm and the drive to continue living and make the best of her life.”
Despite having polio, Lillard was able to go to school two hours a day as a child, and she had tutors the rest of the time. She also used an intercom phone system that allowed her to interact with her teachers and classmates from home.
Martha Lillard rests in her iron lung in Shawnee, Oklahoma. (Cindy McVey/AP Photo, File)
Lillard was even able to take road trips as a child because of a custom trailer that could accommodate the iron lung and her father making sure their hotels had wide enough doors for the machine.
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An iron lung is a negative-pressure ventilator that would help a patient with paralyzed lung muscles breathe.
A row of iron lungs is seen inside in a Los Angeles hospital in 1950. (Bettmann Archive)
The disease once caused thousands of cases of paralysis in children during outbreaks each year in the first part of the 20th century before a vaccine became available in 1955.
By 1979, polio was considered eliminated in the U.S.
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Later, Lillard was able to regain the use of her left arm and legs through therapy and was even able to drive for a time.
She lived independently for many years, even getting married earlier this year to a man from Egypt she corresponded with for two decades after he was able to obtain a visa.
A nurse prepares children for a polio vaccine shot as part of a citywide vaccine test on elementary school students. (Bettmann Archive)
“They were really soul mates,” McVey said. “He’s extremely brokenhearted.”
Lillard, who wrote poetry and volunteered with the Humane Society, according to her sister, had just 25% lung capacity before she was diagnosed with COVID.
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She died of chronic pulmonary failure and post-polio syndrome, according to her death certificate.
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Her sister added that it was related to the effects of long-haul COVID.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
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Reducing your risk of cancer death may be as simple as taking brief breaks for physical activity throughout the day, according to a new observational study.
The study, led by researchers from the University of Glasgow studying the association between cancer and prolonged sedentary behavior, found that participants who regularly interrupted prolonged sitting with physical activity had a lower risk of cancer death.
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“This study adds to growing evidence that prolonged sedentary behavior is an independent health risk,” Dr. Georgia Spear, chief of breast imaging at Northwestern Medicine, told Fox News Digital.
“While it does not prove that sitting causes cancer, it suggests that long, uninterrupted periods of sitting are associated with a higher risk of cancer mortality,” Spear explained. “The findings reinforce existing public-health recommendations that regular movement throughout the day is an important component of cancer prevention.”
Prolonged sedentary periods are associated with increased risk of cancer death, researchers observed. (iStock)
The researchers monitored 91,292 volunteer participants in the U.K. who wore movement-tracking devices on their wrists for seven days to track their sedentary habits. The scientists followed the volunteers’ health outcomes over the course of about 12 years.
The researchers defined prolonged sedentary behavior as any bout that lasted “at least 30 minutes and during which at least 90% of the time was sedentary.”
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They defined interrupted sitting as sessions that lasted fewer than 30 minutes or were interrupted by brief periods of physical activity.
Each additional hour per day of prolonged sedentary behavior was associated with a 10% higher risk of cancer death, the researchers reported in their study, published by PLOS Medicine.
Light physical activity, including household chores, such as ironing, are associated with reduced cancer death risk. (iStock)
Replacing one hour of sitting each day with light activity was associated with a 12% lower risk of cancer death. Replacing 30 minutes with moderate activity was linked to an 8% lower risk, and replacing just five minutes with vigorous activity was associated with a 22% lower risk.
The researchers classified light physical activity as walking at a low speed and performing household chores, such as ironing a shirt or washing dishes.
These findings should be interpreted with caution, the researchers wrote, “because the study cannot prove causality.”
The volunteers may not represent the wider population, they noted, “and the activity monitor captured behavior only during a limited period without showing the context of sedentary behavior, such as work, television viewing or driving.”
Spear said that existing research has linked sedentary behavior to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and several cancers.
Breaking up periods of sitting or reclining with physical activity is key to reducing the risk of cancer death, researchers found. (iStock)
“What is notable here is the finding that how people sit appears to matter, not just the total amount,” she said. “Breaking up sitting with regular movement may provide measurable health benefits.”
According to Spear, other simple lifestyle strategies can be highly effective at reducing cancer-death risk.
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“Stand and move every 30 to 60 minutes, take short walking breaks, including after meals, use the stairs, walk during phone calls and incorporate light activity throughout the day,” she recommended.
“Combined with regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, limiting alcohol, not smoking and staying current with recommended cancer screening, these habits can help reduce the risk of breast cancer and other chronic diseases.”
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A simple lifestyle adjustment could potentially slow down the body’s biological aging process, according to new research.
The study, published in the journal Aging, investigated how a diet change and easy exercise regimen affected men between the ages of 50 and 74 over a three-month period.
Researchers designed a clinical trial involving 48 overweight men in Japan. Over a 12-week period, half of the participants followed a strictly structured wellness routine, while the other half maintained their usual habits.
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For the intervention group, the routine required consuming 100 grams of plain yogurt every day.
This group also received individualized dietary counseling that advised them to curb overeating, avoid excessive snacking and cut out sugary drinks.
A simple lifestyle adjustment could potentially slow down the body’s biological aging process, according to new research. (iStock)
They were also instructed to walk or use a stepper machine for roughly 30 minutes a day, at least three days each week.
To measure the impact of these changes, the scientists collected blood samples from all participants before and after the study, and also analyzed DNA for chemical changes that act as indicators of cellular age.
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Specifically, they used a measurement tool called DunedinPACE. Rather than assessing a person’s chronological age in years, this tool calculates the precise rate at which an individual’s body is currently aging.
The men who consumed the probiotic yogurt, adjusted their diets and exercised showed a statistically significant reduction in their pace of aging compared to the control group, the researchers said.
The anti-aging benefits cannot be attributed to any single component on its own due to the variety in the study, the researchers noted. (iStock)
On average, the speed of their biological aging slowed by approximately 2.2%. This reduction is roughly comparable to the slowing of biological aging observed in a previous two-year U.S. study, in which participants reduced their daily calorie intake by 25%.
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This reduction in aging speed happened independently of weight loss , meaning it did not directly correlate with changes in the participants’ body mass index or the exact number of exercise sessions they logged.
The researchers also recorded a noticeable improvement in a specific DNA marker that is linked to kidney function.
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Because this study combined three distinct factors — probiotics, diet and exercise — the authors concluded that the anti-aging benefits cannot be attributed to any single component. Instead, the slowed aging rate appears to be the result of a combined effect.
The reduction in aging speed happened independently of weight loss, the study found. (iStock)
The researchers also acknowledged clear limitations of the study, including its small sample size and short duration. Also, the participant pool was restricted to overweight men of a single nationality.
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More research is needed to determine whether these short-term biological shifts can translate into permanent, long-term health benefits, the study stated.
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