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IBD IN 2021

Precision medicine in IBD: genes, drugs, bugs and omics

Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology volume 19, pages 81–82 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

Key studies published in 2021 demonstrated mechanisms that drive macrophage–fibroblast pathogenicity in Crohn’s disease, developed multi-omics profiles to predict response to biological therapy, and suggested potential complementary treatments and new therapeutic agents in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) therapy. These results represent important progress towards precision medicine for patients with IBD.

Key advances

  • Loss of NOD2 function enhanced pathogenic activation of a macrophage–fibroblast niche that drives fibrogenesis in Crohn’s disease through a STAT3-dependent pathway, and glycoprotein 130 blockade might benefit anti-tumour necrosis factor non-responders6.

  • Integrating multi-omics including faecal metagenomic, serum metabolomic and proteomic profiles can predict differential response to either anti-cytokine or anti-integrin therapy in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)7.

  • Engineered self-tunable yeast probiotics for modulation of extracellular ATP–adenosine balance suppressed intestinal inflammation in mouse models of IBD, circumventing unwanted adverse effects such as fibrosis and microbial dysregulation10.

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Fig. 1: Breaking the IBD therapeutic ceiling.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank C. Fiocchi, X. Li and X. Lin for their help in preparing this manuscript. R.M. was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC grant no. 81970483 and no. 82170537).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

    Ren Mao & Minhu Chen

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  1. Ren Mao
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Correspondence to Ren Mao.

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Mao, R., Chen, M. Precision medicine in IBD: genes, drugs, bugs and omics. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 19, 81–82 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-021-00555-w

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