Researchers identify immune markers appearing years before inflammatory bowel disease

Scientists have found that the immune system begins to change up to ten years before a person is diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease. Researchers looked at blood samples from more than 20,000 patients. They found that people who later developed Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis had fewer types of antibodies than healthy people. They also found higher antibody activity against certain viruses and bacteria in future Crohn's patients. Some of these changes appeared up to eight years before diagnosis. Many of the strongest signals were already present at the earliest blood tests, about a decade before any symptoms. Doctors may one day use a simple blood test to identify people at risk before they become ill.