UCD scientists devise new approach to treating IBD with hydroxylase inhibitors

Researchers at University College Dublin have discovered a new therapeutic approach to treating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a chronic inflammation of the intestine.

Using an animal model the scientists have demonstrated the almost completely reversal using a new class of drugs called hydroxylase inhibitors.

“Under normal conditions our gastro-intestinal tract is lined with cells that block the contents of the gut from leaking,” says Cormac Taylor from the UCD Conway Institute, University College Dublin. “However, when a person is suffering from IBD this barrier is broken and the contents of the gut leak out into surrounding areas.”

Hydroylase inhibitors trick the gut into thinking that it is being deprived of oxygen. This activates protective pathways which prevent the death of cells lining the gastrointestinal tract, said Taylor.

A similar study at the University of Colorado, Denver, using a different hydroxylase inhibitor, supports the Irish research.

The Irish and US research groups will now begin a collaboration to advance the research through preclinical development. They will work with Sigmoid Biotechnologies, a Dublin based drug delivery company, to develop a way to deliver the drugs to their intended target in the gut.