Bay Biosciences provides high quality clinical grade fresh frozen serum, plasma, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) bio-fluid samples derived from whole blood from unique patients diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Ulcerative Colitis Overview

Ulcerative Colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that causes long-lasting inflammation and ulcers (sores) in the human digestive tract. In addition, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) encompasses several conditions, including Chron’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and indeterminate colitis.

According to the CDC, they estimate that 1.3% of US adults (3 million) reported being diagnosed with IBD (either Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis). **Specifically**, Ulcerative colitis has an incidence of 9 to 20 cases per 100,000 persons per year. Moreover, its prevalence is 156 to 291 cases per 100,000 persons per year.

Furthermore, Ulcerative colitis affects the innermost lining of the large intestine (colon) and rectum, which results in diffuse friability and superficial erosions on the colonic wall associated with bleeding. Notably, most common form of inflammatory bowel disease worldwide.

Typically, symptoms usually develop over time. Consequently, Ulcerative colitis can be debilitating and can sometimes lead to life-threatening complications. On the other hand, most patients with Ulcerative Colitis have mild to moderate symptoms, and while it has no known cure, treatment can greatly reduce signs and symptoms of the disease and even bring about long-term remission.

Types of Ulcerative Colitis

Ulcerative Colitis is usually classified according to the location where the disease occurs. Moreover, following are the types of ulcerative colitis disease: 

Ulcerative Proctitis

  • Ulcerative Proctitis: Inflammation and pain confine themselves to the area closest to the anus (rectum); consequently, rectal bleeding may be the only sign of the disease.

Proctosigmoiditis

  • Proctosigmoiditis:  Inflammation involves the rectum and sigmoid colon, which is the lower end of the colon. Thus, signs and symptoms include bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramps and pain, and an inability to move the bowels in spite of the urge to do so (tenesmus).

Left-sided Colitis

  • Left-sided colitis:  In this type of colitis, inflammation extends from the rectum up through the sigmoid and descending colon. As a result, signs and symptoms include bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and pain on the left side, and urgency to defecate.

Pancolitis

  • Pancolitis: This type, therefore, often affects the entire colon and causes bouts of bloody diarrhea that may be severe, along with abdominal cramps and pain, fatigue, and significant weight loss due to malnutrition.

Fulminant Colitis

  • Fulminant Colitis: This is a rare, potentially life threatening form of colitis that affects the whole colon. Symptoms tend to include severe pain and diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration and shock. Fulminant colitis can present a risk of colon rupture and toxic megacolon, which causes the colon to become severely distended.

Signs and Symptoms of Ulcerative Colitis

Ulcerative colitis symptoms can vary; however, this variation depends on the severity of inflammation and where it occurs. Most of the ulcerative colitis patients, in fact, have mild to moderate symptoms. Moreover, the course of ulcerative colitis disease may vary, with some people experiencing long periods of remission while signs and symptoms do not return for a while.

Following are, therefore, the common signs and symptoms of Ulcerative Colitis:

Ulcerative Colitis can also cause the following additional conditions:

  • Firstly, joint pain
  • Secondly, joint swelling
  • Thirdly, nausea
  • Moreover, sores in the mouth
  • Furthermore, eye inflammation
  • In addition, skin problems
  • Finally, low appetite

Causes of Ulcerative Colitis

The exact cause of ulcerative colitis is unknown. Nevertheless, researchers believe that inflammatory bowel diseases, including ulcerative colitis, stem from a complex interaction between genetics, the bacterial composition of the digestive tract, environmental factors, and the immune system.

Furthermore, ulcerative colitis may result from an overactive immune system. However, it’s unclear why some immune systems respond by attacking the large intestines while others do not. One possible cause, for instance, is an immune system malfunction. Specifically, when your immune system tries to fight off an invading virus or bacterium, an abnormal immune response causes it to attack the cells in the digestive tract.

In addition, heredity also seems to play a role in that ulcerative colitis is more common in people who have family members with the disease. However, it is important to note that most people with ulcerative colitis do not have this family history.

Summary of Causes

Moreover, factors that may play a role in who develops UC include:

  • Genetic factors: Experts suggest that people with UC are more likely to have certain genetic features. The specific genetic feature a person has may affect the age at which the disease appears.
  • Environmental factors: A person’s diet and exposure to air pollution or cigarette smoke may affect the onset of UC.
  • Immune system reaction: The body might respond to a viral or bacterial infection in a way that causes the inflammation associated with UC. Once the infection resolves, the immune system continues to respond, leading to ongoing inflammation.
  • Autoimmunity: Another theory suggests that UC may be an autoimmune condition. A fault in the immune system may cause it to fight nonexistent infections, leading to inflammation in the colon.
  • Gut microbiome: People with IBD tend to have differences in the bacteria in their digestive tracts compared with people without IBD, though research is still ongoing to determine whether there is a connection.

Risk Factors of Ulcerative Colitis

  • Firstly, age: UC can affect people at any age but is more common at 15 to 30 years of age.
  • Secondly, ethnicity: White people and those of Ashkenazi Jewish descent have a higher risk of developing the condition.
  • Lastly, genetics: Although recent studies have identified specific genes that may play a role in UC, the link is unclear due to the role of environmental factors.

Diagnosis of Ulcerative Colitis

A doctor will ask about a person’s symptoms and medical history. Additionally, they will also ask whether any close relatives have had UC, IBD, or Crohn’s disease.

Furthermore, they will check for signs of anemia, or low iron levels in the blood, and tenderness around the abdomen.

Moreover, several tests can help rule out other conditions and diseases, including Crohn’s disease, infections, and irritable bowel syndrome.

Possible tests include:

  • Colonoscopy, in which a doctor examines the whole colon using an endoscope
  • Blood tests
  • CT scan of the abdomen or pelvis
  • Stool tests
  • Sigmoidoscopy, in which a healthcare professional inserts an endoscope — a flexible tube with a camera at the end — into the rectum
  • X-ray

Consequently, a person with UC will need to see a gastroenterologist, a doctor who specializes in treating conditions of the digestive system.

Ultimately, the doctor can assess the type and severity of the condition and create a treatment plan.

Treatment of Ulcerative Colitis

UC symptoms can range from mild to severe. Moreover, the symptoms may go away, but if a person does not receive treatment, there is a higher chance that symptoms will come back.

People with UC typically receive outpatient treatment. Nevertheless, around 15% of people with the disease have a severe form. Consequently, of these, 1 in 5 may need to spend time in the hospital.

Treatment usually focuses on:

  • Maintaining remission to prevent further symptoms
  • Managing a flare until symptoms go into remission

Medications

In addition, various medications are available, and a doctor will make a treatment plan that accounts for a person’s individual needs and wishes. Furthermore, natural approaches can support medical treatment but cannot replace it.

Treatment for UC can include:

  • Aminosalicylates such as mesalamine, balsalazide, and sulfasalazine, which  target inflammation in the lining of the colon.
  • Corticosteroids, which are powerful, fast-acting anti-inflammatories that can treat UC flare-ups.
  • Immunomodulators, that regulate the immune system, such as thiopurines (azathioprines) and methotrexate.
  • Biologics, which target inflammation in the gut. Specifically, these can include TNF-alpha antagonists such as infliximab (Remicade) and adalimumab (Humira), anti-integrin agents such as vedolizumab (Entyvio), and interleukin 12/23 antagonists such as ustekinumab (Stelara).
  • Additionally, targeted synthetic small molecules, which can reduce inflammation. Options can include Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors such as tofacitinib (Xeljanz) and upadacitinib (Rinvoq).

Furthermore, the specific medications a doctor prescribes depend on the severity of a person’s symptoms and other factors. Therefore, people should talk with their doctor about the available medications, as well as the benefits and risks of each.

Biospecimens

biospecimens

Bay Biosciences is a global leader in providing researchers with high quality, clinical grade, fully characterized human tissue samples, bio-specimens, and human bio-fluid collections.

Human biospecimens are available including cancer (tumor) tissue, cancer serum, cancer plasma, cancer peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). and human tissue samples from most other therapeutic areas and diseases.

Bay Biosciences maintains and manages its own biorepository, the human tissue bank (biobank) consisting of thousands of diseased samples (specimens) and from normal healthy donors for controls, available in all formats and types.

In fact, our biobank procures and stores fully consented, de-identified and institutional review boards (IRB) approved human tissue samples, human biofluids such as serum samples, plasma samples from various diseases and matched controls.

Also, all our human tissue collections, human biospecimens and human biofluids are provided with detailed, samples associated patient’s clinical data.

In fact, this critical patient’s clinical data includes information relating to their past and current disease, treatment history, lifestyle choices, biomarkers, and genetic information.

Additionally, researchers find the patient’s data associated with the human biospecimens extremely valuable and use it to help identify new effective treatments (drug discovery & development) in oncology, as well as in other therapeutic areas and diseases.

Bay Biosciences banks wide variety of human tissue samples and human biological samples, including fresh frozen human biospecimens cryogenically preserved at – 80°C.

For example fresh frozen tissue samples, tumor tissue samples, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE), tissue slides, with matching human bio-fluids, whole blood and blood-derived products such as human serum, human plasma and human PBMCs.

Bay Biosciences is a global leader in collecting and providing human tissue samples according to the specified requirements and customized, tailor-made collection protocols.

Please contact us anytime to discuss your special research projects and customized human tissue sample requirements.

Types of Biospecimens

Bay Biosciences provides human tissue samples (human specimens) and human biofluids from diseased and normal healthy donors which includes:

Moreover, we can also procure most human biospecimens and human biofluids, special collections and requests for human samples that are difficult to find. All our human tissue samples and human biofluids are procured through IRB-approved clinical protocols and procedures.

In addition to the standard processing protocols, Bay Biosciences can also provide human biofluids such as  human plasma, human serum, and human PBMCs bio-fluid samples using custom processing protocols; you buy donor-specific collections in higher volumes and specified sample aliquots from us.

Bay Biosciences also provides human biospecimens from normal healthy donors; volunteers, for controls and clinical research, Contact us Now.