IBD irish times article

metrovelvet · 23-07-2010 07:45PM #1

In yesterday's Irish Times it said that an institute at UCD discovered that IBD is caused by an enzyme in the bowel over sensitive to oxygen. If I remember correctly.

Does anyone know anything more about this? Unfortunately I've thrown out the paper so I can't cite the page number.

lonestargirl · 23-07-2010 07:59PM

Is this the article from the IT?

Abstract of the article:

BACKGROUND AND AIMS:: HIF prolyl hydroxylase inhibitors are protective in mouse models of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Here, we investigated the therapeutic target(s) and mechanism(s) involved. METHODS:: The effect of genetic deletion of individual HIF-prolyl hydroxylase enzymes (PHD) on the development of dextran sulphate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis was examined in mice. RESULTS:: PHD1-/-, but not PHD2+/- or PHD3-/-, mice were less susceptible to the development of colitis than wild type controls as determined by weight loss, disease activity, colon histology, neutrophil infiltration and cytokine expression. Reduced susceptibility of PHD1-/- mice to colitis was associated with increased density of colonic epithelial cells relative to wild type controls which was due to decreased levels of apoptosis resulting in enhanced epithelial barrier function. Furthermore, using cultured epithelial cells it was confirmed that hydroxylase inhibition reversed DSS-induced apoptosis and barrier dysfunction. Finally, PHD1 levels were increased with disease severity in intestinal tissue from IBD patients and in colonic tissues from DSS treated mice. CONCLUSIONS:: These results imply a role for PHD1 as a positive regulator of intestinal epithelial cell apoptosis in the inflamed colon. Genetic loss of PHD1 is protective against colitis through decreased epithelial cell apoptosis and consequent enhancement of intestinal epithelial barrier function. Thus, targeted PHD1 inhibition may represent a new therapeutic approach in IBD.

metrovelvet · 23-07-2010 08:05PM

Yes that's the one.

bleg · 23-07-2010 08:07PM

Do not trust any healthcare articles in mainstream newspapers. Read the research papers.

Claireoc · 25-07-2010 08:23PM

Hello

You'll find my piece in the Irish Times here:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sciencetoday/2010/0722/1224275189187.html

Please note that it does *not* say that the enzyme causes IBD.

It highlights research that demonstrates changes in levels of that enzyme in a mouse model and its presence in human samples of IBD, establishes a link between levels of that enzyme and gut leakiness and makes the point that ultimately it could offer a potential therapeutic target.

The full article is in the journal Gastroenterology and the abstract has been posted above.

The poster who mentioned not to trust newspaper articles and go read the research papers has a point, but in this instance the newspaper piece just highlighted research and cited the journal

Kurtosis · 25-07-2010 08:57PM

Claireoc wrote: »

The poster who mentioned not to trust newspaper articles and go read the research papers has a point, but in this instance the newspaper piece just highlighted research and cited the journal

On this point, it's great to see a newspaper article actually mentioning where the research was published, fair play! There are far too many articles out there where it appears the author is almost trying to make the research paper difficult to track down.

Claireoc · 25-07-2010 09:03PM

Thanks, I make a point of citing the source of a published study I'm writing about wherever possible: there's not enough word count usually in the newspaper pieces to go into much detail, so by mentioning the journal the really interested folk can go to the original work and find out more.

bleg · 25-07-2010 10:46PM

Claireoc wrote: »

The poster who mentioned not to trust newspaper articles and go read the research papers has a point, but in this instance the newspaper piece just highlighted research and cited the journal

I still read the science section of the Irish Times though:o

Claireoc · 25-07-2010 10:48PM

That's good, I'm glad people do

bleg · 26-07-2010 10:52PM

While you're here, do the other journalists get in contact with the science writers to verify information etc... when writing pieces.

Claireoc · 26-07-2010 11:11PM

Depends on the individual I think. Sometimes a colleague will run something past me if they have an initial question about a release that comes in. Other times the journalist writing the story will be talking to a study author and will quote them directly.

Wherever possible I go and look up the original paper if I am writing about a piece of research (press releases are handy for flagging the work but I like to dig behind them) - then again I generally write columns and features where there tends to be more time to prepare.

Rambling now, sorry

IBD irish times article

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