Lipids in Crohn’s disease – relevance to pathogenesis and therapeutic interventions (FORBESU18SF1)

Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory condition that can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract. Deep understanding of the disease pathogenesis is lacking. In CD, the mesentery attached to the inflamed intestines is usually thickened but for unknown reasons; the phenomenon known as “fat wrapping”. Additionally, the alteration in tissue remodelling of intestinal epithelium by high fat intake is a newly suggested and plausible cellular mechanism for intestinal diseases. Therefore, it was hypothesized that enteral feed with a pre-defined fat composition would have a beneficial effect in CD and the mechanism of action of EN in CD can be justified by the effect of fatty acids on modulating the cellular and molecular environment of the hypertrophied mesenteric adipose tissues and the adjacent intestinal epithelium.

The aims of the project are to continue the characterisation of mesenteric adipose tissues in CD, to investigate the in-vitro effect of the fatty acid constituents of enteral feeds on the behaviour and interaction of cultured adipocytes of mesenteric adipose tissues and on the gut epithelial physiology, to identify what specific dietary fatty acid can promote an IBD phenotype, and finally to incorporate the outcomes in designing and conducting a clinical trial to adequately test the efficacy of EN in CD.

Overall, the findings of this research project should provide further insight into the mechanisms of action so as to target future treatments in CD and to help optimize the lipid formulation of enteral feeds used in CD.

For information on the supervisor for this project, please go here: https://www.uea.ac.uk/medicine/people/profile/alastair-forbes
Type of programme: PhD or MD
Start date: Oct, April, or July 2018
Mode of study: Full time
Application deadline: 31 May 2018 NB Applications are processed as soon as they are received and the project may be filled before the closing date, so early application is encouraged.
The standard minimum entry requirement is 2:1.