By Nina Hermansen, AAU Communication & Public Affairs
Photo: Colourbox

Abdominal pain, diarrhea, and debilitating fatigue shape the daily lives of millions of people worldwide living with Crohn’s disease (CD) – one of the two main types of inflammatory bowel disease. The prevalence of this chronic and serious condition is rising, yet no cure has been found. 

In other words, there is an unmet need in both the prediction and the prevention of the disease.

Now, researchers at the National Center of Excellence for Molecular Prediction of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (PREDICT) at Aalborg University are poised to make a giant leap in this field.

With support from a USD 5.6 millon (DKK 38 million) grant provided by The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust to Aalborg University, the researchers will conduct the largest and most comprehensive pre-diagnostic study of early Crohn’s disease to date – hoping to accurately understand the biological mechanisms leading to developing the disease. 

Limited samples have hindered progress

To achieve this, the researchers will leverage thousands of samples from the Danish National Biobank – a unique resource that offers population-level, representative blood samples collected up to 20 years before diagnosis.

Tine Jess, Professor and Director of PREDICT explains:

“Millions of young people worldwide are affected by Crohn’s disease with severe consequences for their life. Today we cannot prevent the occurrence of Crohn’s disease as we lack knowledge of what happens in the body before the disease develops. By studying unique blood samples collected years before diagnosis, we aim to change that.”

Who ends up with CD?

Professor Jess and her team believe that several factors influence whether the disease eventually develops. It is well known that changes in the body begin long before symptoms appear and a diagnosis is made, and this early phase may last longer than previously thought — but exactly what changes take place remains unclear.

To further investigate this, they will study 3000 blood samples from patients prior to diagnosis, matching them to an equal number of control samples from people who have not developed CD. 

“With a total of 6,000 blood samples, we’re able to address the challenges of studying multiple factors at once. Ultimately, we hope to develop a predictive model that can identify who is likely to develop the condition and may need intervention,” Tine Jess says.

Unlock vital insights

Denmark has a public and free-at-the-point-of-use healthcare system covering the entire population and a long tradition of collecting nationwide health data and biobank samples. 

Thus, according to Tine Jess, this project stands as a powerful proof-of-concept of how Denmark’s unique health data and biobank infrastructure can unlock vital insights into the early development of disease. 

“Over time, insights from this resource could help prevent a wide range of chronic conditions, including inflammatory bowel disease, both in Denmark and globally.”