(gentle music)
- Imagine if you didn't have control of your bowels,
you'd no doubt rethink playing your favourite sport.
- Crohn's disease is one of two major forms
of inflammatory bowel disease,
and it can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract,
from the tongue to the bum.
There is no cure.
We currently think that Crohn's disease results
from abnormal immune responses to bacteria
in genetically susceptible individuals.
Yet nothing is known about the precise mechanisms
that cause this disease.
Now gut macrophages are immune cells
that protect against bacterial invasion
in the gut by gobbling up bacteria,
but without causing inflammation.
They're derived from monocytes in the bone marrow.
These cells turn on inflammation,
but when they arrive at the gut and become gut macrophages,
they turn the inflammation off.
Now, I suspect that Crohn's disease results
when these cells don't turn off inflammation
in response to gut bacteria.
So, my research aims
at identifying specific regulatory abnormalities
in gut macrophages in Crohn's disease patients.
This has far reaching potential
for the development of novel tests,
therapeutics and may ultimately result in a cure.
(gentle music)