New potential treatment target for inflammatory bowel disease patients

Inflamed mouse colon mucosa, with an expanded population of intestinal stromal cells identified by expression of podoplanin (green). Epithelium is identified by expression of EpCAM (magenta); cyan, nuclei. A new study could change the lives of millions of people living with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) who don't respond to the current standard of care. Researchers at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology and Translational Gastroenterology Unit, University of Oxford have identified a potential therapeutic target for IBD. The findings are of particular importance to the 40% of patients who don't respond to anti-TNF therapy, the current treatment option available. The new study published shows that IBD patients have higher concentrations of Oncostatin M (OSM), a protein linked to inflammation, in their intestine and suggest that blocking OSM could prove to be a successful treatment for IBD. The research also shows that patients with high amounts of OSM in their intestine respond poorly to anti-TNF therapy (such as adalimumab, golimumab, or infliximab), which has been the most effective therapy for IBD for almost 20 years.