Edinburgh Napier University

  Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), which includes Crohn’s disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis, is characterised by chronic inflammation in the gut. This can be caused by a multitude of factors including genetics, environmental factors and dysregulated immune responses to intestinal bacteria. Genetic studies have revealed that CD is strongly associated with deficiency in a cellular process called autophagy. Autophagy, a homeostatic degradation process which removes damaged proteins and organelles from the cell, also destroys invading pathogens and is an important part of the innate immune response. There is no cure for CD and current treatments are aimed at controlling the inflammation, however there is limited understanding of how these drugs work and their efficacy diminishes over time. Therefore, the aim of my project is to understand how commonly used IBD drugs work, and specifically whether they modulate the autophagy pathway. A more comprehensive understanding of the mechanism of action of these drugs would allow better-informed decisions on their suitability for the treatment of different forms of IBD.