An international study conducted by researchers at the University of Copenhagen has discovered an essential mechanism that controls wound healing in the intestine. The new discovery shows that the cells in the intestines are reprogrammed and take on a foetal-like state, which is vital to intestinal cells’ ability to heal wounds in the intestine. Read the source article at News – University of Copenhagen.
Bloody diarrhea, stomach and abdominal pain and discomfort are just some of common symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease. A subtype of this disease, ulcerative colitis, causes significant wounds in the bowel and intestine that refuse heal normally. Typically, the condition is only treated by targeting the inflammation. The current understanding of cellular level wound healing is insufficient, so no treatment has been developed that supplements the intestine’s natural ability to heal wounds. However, this new research could be the first step in the process to changing the situation.
Compared to someone with ulcerative colitis, the intestine of a healthy person is capable of healing wounds to the area on its own. The new study showed that changes to the epithelial cells in the intestine. These form a barrier in the intestine that prevents the gut’s natural population of bacteria from entering the remainder of the body, as well as preventing debris such as food from going somewhere it shouldn’t be. When this layer is broken, the risk for inflammation begins to increase- and when the epithelial cells in the layer start to die off, a chronic ulceration develops. To learn more about ulcerative colitis, click here.
