Organ-on-a-Chip
Patients with debilitating gastrointestinal diseases like Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and irritable bowel syndrome often have to try several costly treatments before they find one that works for them. These drugs can cause individuals painful side effects or ultimately be ineffective for their personal conditions. However, a new testing tool called an “Intestine-Chip” could save patients this pain and cost.
Intestinal lining cells created from an individual’s adult stem cells can be placed on a chip and mirror what is happening inside that individual’s body, according to a study from researchers at the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute and Emulate, Inc. in Boston.
After being placed in a chip, intestine lining cells form folds like they do in the human body. Image Credit: Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine InstituteAfter being placed in a chip, intestine lining cells form folds like they do in the human body. Image Credit: Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute
So, instead of testing drugs within a patient, you could test them on the Intestine-Chip first, protecting the patient from needlessly experiencing negative side effects. This could also reduce the amount of drug used, the difficulty of the application, and potentially the cost of the testing. This study was recently published in the journal Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology.