Motility in Crohn's disease
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Motility in Crohn's disease
IRAS ID
165356
Contact name
Gordon Moran
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Nottingham
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Crohn’s disease (CD) is becoming more common. One of the main features of this disease is weight loss and malnutrition with symptoms such as tummy aches and bloating. These problems have a strong negative effect on the patients’ quality of life but the causes of these problems are not well understood.
Enteroendocrine cells (EC) are nutrient sensors in the bowel that secrete special chemicals (called hormones) that control appetite and the movements (motility) of the gut. We think that this control mechanism goes wrong in CD patients and we plan to do more research into this.
Looking at the inside workings of the gut has always been difficult and at times unpleasant for patients; however recent developments in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are allowing us to study the workings of the gut in greater detail and without discomfort for the patients.
This study will tell us if the movements of the gut are altered in CD patients, if these hormones have any role to play and if what we are seeing in the scans and blood results is leading to any symptoms.
We hypothesise that blocking these hormones might help patient symptoms. If this study is successful, future studies will look into this.REC name
East Midlands - Nottingham 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/EM/0003
Date of REC Opinion
16 Feb 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion