INTRODUCTION: Reactive oxygen species are responsible for the mediation of physiologic and pathologic cellular responses. The tissue damage occurring in all inflammatory disorders, including that observed in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), is mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated and released by activated immunocompetent cells. When present in sufficient concentration, these oxidative ROS are toxic to both real or perceived infectious or allergic threats, as well as native tissues in the context of autoimmune disease. The diagnosis and interval assessment of patients with IBD currently rely on expensive and invasive procedures that create cost and logistic drawbacks for both patients and the larger health care system. Thus, there is a pressing need for the development of reliable, cost-effective, and noninvasive methods to better diagnose and manage patients with IBD.
OBJECTIVES: The goal of this present study was to assess the relationship between disease activity and ambient oxidative state in the stool of patients with and without IBD.
METHODS: Patients admitted to Boston Children’s Hospital (Boston, MA) were recruited and consented for participation in the study. Stool samples were collected, and the redox potential (mV) was assessed using three different redox status measuring systems. The samples were collected between November 2018 and March 2020.
RESULTS: Data demonstrated that reliable measurements could be made of redox status in stool samples collected from patients with and without IBD. Data collected from patients with IBD displayed an inverse correlation between relative redox status and disease activity.
CONCLUSION: The measurement of relative redox status in the stool of patients with and without IBD is a reliable tool for indicating clinical disease status. Furthermore, the initiation of an improved method for the collection and processing of stool samples from consented patients appears to increase study accrual and data collection. Data from this study can be used as the basis for future studies that assess the clinical impact of pharmacologic, lifestyle, and dietary approaches to managing fecal redox in patients with IBD.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/41171 |
| Date | 09 June 2020 |
| Creators | Ajithkumar, Aravindh K. |
| Contributors | Spencer, Jean L. |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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