Data Powered Histopathology for IBD Research

Millions of people worldwide suffer from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In 2015, 3 million  adults in the U.S. were diagnosed with IBD, with 70,000 new cases reported. IBD consists of two major disorders: ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. The former affects the colon, and the latter targets any part of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract; both cause chronic inflammation and damage in the GI. Patients with IBD are also more likely to  develop chronic health conditions related to cardiovascular disease, cancer, or liver disease, and no standard exists for managing IBD patients. With over 1.8 and 2.1 million prescriptions written for drugs each year to treat Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis patients, respectively, many must cope with managing their daily routine around the unpredictable onset of symptoms.

Pan-Cytokeratin (green) + Granzyme B (yellow) + CD56 (red)  + DAPI (blue) on  human GI tissue.

From a histopathological perspective, IBD is characterized by architectural abnormalities and infiltration of inflammatory cells. A biopsy showing signs of Crohn’s disease would show features such as focal and discontinuous chronic inflammation, crypt distortion, and irregular villi structure. Ulcerative colitis biopsies would show abnormalities in both mucosal and epithelial structure and neutrophil infiltration. Architectural changes in the GI can be subtle, and reporting these in conjunction with patient outcomes may add to the challenges of personalized treatment regimens. Image analysis tools, especially those featuring quantitative analysis of structural abnormalities and inflammatory cell counts, provide valuable data for IBD research.

Reveal Biosciences is creating a new generation of data powered pathology to enhance research and improve global healthcare.  Reveal combines cutting edge artificial intelligence (AI) with traditional histopathology to transform tissue biology into actionable data. Whether your assessments include architectural changes, chronic inflammatory infiltration, or crypt destruction, you can trust our experienced team to support your study with high quality and impactful data.

Reveal Biosciences’ crypt detection mask (zoomed image) applied to Galectin-3 stained mouse colon.

Reveal’s  optimized workflow processes GI tissue into stained slides, high resolution whole slide images, and quantitative data. Our  fully automated laboratory and experienced scientists provide histopathology, immunohistochemistry (IHC), and in situ hybridization (ISH) expertise for a wide range of pharmaceutical, biotech, academic, and government institutions.  A  library of validated IHC protocols on colon, stomach, and intestinal tissue includes cleaved caspase-3, CD45, Ki67, CD4, CD8, and cytokeratin, making your study initiation seamless and convenient. Expert scientists are also available  to help to optimize new antibody protocol development. With a world class team of data and research scientists focused on addressing some of the biggest problems in healthcare, Reveal is developing a pipeline of AI-based digital assays for preclinical research, clinical trials, and decision support tools. 

Contact us to learn how AI-powered histopathology can be applied to your IBD study.

References:

  1. https://www.cdc.gov/ibd/data-statistics.htm
  2. https://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/
  3. GBD 2017 Inflammatory Bowel Disease Collaborators. The global, regional, and national burden of inflammatory bowel disease in 195 countries and territories, 1990-2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2020;5(1):17-30. doi:10.1016/S2468-1253(19)30333-4
  4. Langner C, Magro F, Driessen A, et al. The histopathological approach to inflammatory bowel disease: a practice guide. Virchows Arch. 2014;464(5):511-527. doi:10.1007/s00428-014-1543-4

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