Recapitulating Inflammation: How To Use the Colon Intestine-Chip To Study Complex Mechanisms Of IBD

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is on the rise globally. In 1990, approximately 3.7 million people had this condition, and that number surged to 6.8 million by 2017. Yet, nearly half of IBD patients do not respond to current therapies, and even those who do may experience diminishing therapeutic efficacy over time. Consequently, there is an urgent imperative to develop a new era of IBD therapies.

Unfortunately, the quest for more effective treatments is hindered by ineffective drug development models. Conventional two-dimensional (2D) cell models offer only fragmented insights into the complex nature of IBD. Many three-dimensional (3D) models, such as organoids, lack vital biological components like vasculature and biomechanical forces. Animal models are also limited, as their immune systems fail to fully replicate many of the mechanisms of human immunity. To address this challenge, a Colon Intestine-Chip has been developed, combining primary human tissue, vasculature, mechanical forces, and crucially, immune cell recruitment to recapitulate the biology driving IBD.