On July 1, Brian Muegge, MD, PhD and colleagues had their research titled “Reverse translation approach generates a signature of penetrating fibrosis in Crohn’s disease that is associated with anti-TNF response,” published in “Gut.”
“Objective Fibrosis is a common feature of Crohn’s disease (CD) which can involve the mesenteric fat. However, the molecular signature of this process remains unclear.”
The study intends to improve understanding of CD pathogenesis by modeling mesenteric fibrosis in mice and defining transcriptional signature of mesenteric fibrosis in those with CD.
During analysis of the CD-like fibrosis phenotype in mice, Muegge and colleagues found that “mesenteric fibrosis in CD was interconnected to areas of fibrosis in all layers of the intestine, defined as penetrating fibrosis.” They also created a 24-gene set list linking to inflammatory fibroblasts, which correlated with treatment response.
In conclusion, they “linked histopathological and molecular features of CD penetrating fibrosis to a mouse model of repeated biopsy injuries,” stating that “this experimental system provides an innovative approach for functional investigations of underlying profibrotic mechanisms and therapeutic concepts in CD.”