Grants Archive - Page 12 of 187 - Kenneth Rainin Foundation

People with Crohn’s disease (CD) often experience intestinal fibrosis, a result of chronic inflammation that thickens the gut wall, forms scar tissues and narrows the digestive tract, leading to blockages. This persistent fibrotic process necessitates multiple surgeries over a person’s lifetime. Currently, there are no targeted medications for fibrosis due to a lack of understanding […]

Intestinal fungi, collectively known as the mycobiota, have emerged as significant contributors to intestinal disease severity. Our prior research demonstrated the efficacy of fecal microbiota transplantation in inducing clinical responses in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients associated with decreased fungal colonization over time. Further investigations in mouse models and UC patients revealed that fungi exacerbate disease […]

T cells are major drivers of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) but the full set of factors promoting inflammatory intestinal T cell accumulation in affected individuals is not understood. We have found that deficiency in a signaling molecule (G-protein) in mouse hematopoietic cells leads to a reduction in inflammatory intestinal T cells. Here we will define […]

Males and females with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) differ in terms of incidence of disease, symptoms and response to treatments. The underlying reasons are largely unknown. Understanding why these sex differences exist could reveal why many patients develop IBD as they enter young adulthood. Sex hormones such as testosterone surge during adolescence and then circulate […]

The cells lining our intestine are the first line of defense against the microbes in our bowel. This lining does not function properly in types of Inflammatory Bowel Disease such as ulcerative colitis (UC). A major problem is that there are no therapies available for UC to improve the health of the intestine lining. Our […]

The etiology of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is complex and incompletely understood, with interactions between various genetic risks and environmental factors such as the gut microbiome contributing to disease. Further, psychological stress often precedes flare-ups, is associated with colitis severity and stress changes gut microbiome profiles. However, a mechanistic link between stress, the microbiome and […]

Despite advances in understanding Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), research has been constrained by the inability to sample the intestinal microenvironment under physiological conditions. Current methods utilize fecal specimens, constraining our comprehension of regional differences within the gut, or use invasive biopsies from colonoscopy-accessible areas, which represent less than 25% of the intestine. Furthermore, these biopsies […]

Despite medical advances, a significant proportion of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) patients are resistant to therapies, with CD4 T cells being consistently activated. Analysis of inflamed tissues from a cohort of refractory IBD patients reveals an enrichment of metabolism gene transcripts in CD4 T cells. Exploring the mechanisms, our preliminary data demonstrate that several proinflammatory […]

Sorbitol is a sugar alcohol that is not absorbed very well in our bodies. It is usually broken down in the gut by a type of bacteria called Clostridia. When these bacteria are not there, sorbitol accumulates and that leads to increased osmotic stress for the cells lining our intestines. Our cells have many defense […]