IBD Alliance

The IBD Alliance at the Karolinska Institutet/Hospital is a network of physicians and researchers (physicians/non-physicians) interested in IBD. The aim is to promote the interaction between clinical care and research in IBD.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affects about 1% of the Swedish population. It is generally divided into ulcerative colitis (UC), Crohn’s disease (CD), and unspecified IBD (IBD-U). IBD has undergone major changes over time. While the mortality in the 1950s was 30-40%, new treatment has meant that death is now rare in IBD. Initial treatment was restricted to bowel surgery (especially colectomy), until steroids were introduced and later 5-ASA and thiopurines. Today, IBD is one of the most exciting areas for new treatments. TNF-blockers and other biologics have shown great effect. Also the interplay between microbiota and dietary intake yields promises (the NOD2 mutation plays an important role in Crohn’s disease and recognises bacterial peptides). In children enteral nutrition often has a substantial effect on disease activity, and fecal transplantation is a potential treatment.

The increased survival in IBD means that physicians more and more will have to focus on long-term complications such as colorectal cancer, lymphoma and opportunistic infections. Patients are followed by regular visits to physicians, dieticians, dedicated IBD nurses etc, and IBD-specific diagnostics include fecal calprotectin and endoscopy and increasingly ultrasound and magnetic resonance.

Contact person and coordinator for the IBD Alliance network

Participants

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Sven Almer

Affiliated To Research;Affiliated to Research
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Henrik Arnell

Affiliated to Research
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Johan Askling

Professor/Senior Physician
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Ann-Sofie Backman

Affiliated to Research
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Annika Bergquist

Professor/Senior Physician

Francesca Bresso

Affiliated to Research

Thomas Casswall

Affiliated to Research
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Anders Ekbom

Professor
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Charlotte Hedin

Adjunct Lecturer

Marjo Kapraali

Affiliated To Research;Affiliated to Research

Annika Karlsson

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Ulrik Lindforss

Affiliated to Research;Affiliated to Teaching/Tutoring

Fredrik Lindgren

Lina Lindström

Mikael Lördal

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Petter Malmborg

Affiliated to Research

Natalia Mouratidou

Per Nilsson

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Ola Olén

Affiliated To Research;Affiliated to Research;Adjunct Senior Lecturer
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Mattias Svensson

Principal Researcher

Helena Thulin

Assistant Senior Lecturer

Ongoing projects

Ludvigsson, Jonas: network coordinator, KI,Risk of cancer in IBD - a registry-based study. The primary objective is to evaluate the risk of cancer in children and adults with IBD taking disease location, grade of inflammation and treatment into account.

Bresso, Francesca, KI: Role of epigenetic modifications in IBD. To evaluate epigenetic modifications in IBD, causative and regulatory role, related gene-environment interaction and identification of putative biomarkers

Ekbom, Anders, KI. Chronic inflammation - will it be less harmful after anti-inflammatory therapy? Follow-up of different patient groups with chronic inflammation with regards to morbidity, mortality utilization of health care, following different interventions, including surgery.

Hedin, Charlotte, KS. Altered intestinal microbiota and blood T-cell phenotype are shared by Crohn’s disease patients and their unaffected siblings: This project aimed to delineate the genetic, immune and microbiological profile of CD patients, their siblings and controls and also to determine which factors discriminate groups.

Lindström, Lina, KS. Recurrence of PSC after liver transplantation: The aim of the study is to identify/confirm risk factors for recurrent PSC in a large and well characterized cohort of PSC patients. Emphasis on IBD-related risk factors such as inflammatory activity and colectomy.

Malmborg, Petter, KS. Prognosis of pediatric IBD: Some studies suggest that childhood-onset of disease represents a more aggressive phenotype of IBD. We are studying the presentation and progression of patients diagnosed with IBD during childhood in a population-based cohort from northern Stockholm County 1990-2007.

Olén, Ola, KI. Etiology of Inflammatory bowel disease  

-"'--"'- Prognosis of Inflammatory bowel disease

Selected publications

Association of inflammatory bowel disease in first-degree relatives with risk of colorectal cancer: A nationwide case-control study in Sweden.
Wang K, Olén O, Emilsson L, Khalili H, Halfvarson J, Song M, Ludvigsson JF
Int J Cancer 2023 Jun;152(11):2303-2313

Increasing Risk of Lymphoma Over Time in Crohn's Disease but Not in Ulcerative Colitis: A Scandinavian Cohort Study.
Olén O, Smedby KE, Erichsen R, Pedersen L, Halfvarson J, Hallqvist-Everhov Å, Bryder N, , Askling J, Ekbom A, Sachs MC, Sørensen HT, Ludvigsson JF
Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2023 Apr;():

The single-cell transcriptional landscape of innate and adaptive lymphocytes in pediatric-onset colitis.
Kokkinou E, Soini T, Pandey RV, van Acker A, Theorell J, Czarnewski P, Kvedaraite E, Vandamme N, Lourda M, Sorini C, Weigel W, Carrasco A, Tibbitt CA, Schlums H, Lindforss U, Nordenvall C, Ljunggren M, Ideström M, Svensson M, Henter JI, Villablanca EJ, Bryceson YT, Rolandsdotter H, Mjösberg J
Cell Rep Med 2023 May;4(5):101038

Long-term risk of inflammatory bowel disease after endoscopic biopsy with normal mucosa: A population-based, sibling-controlled cohort study in Sweden.
Sun J, Fang F, Olén O, Song M, Halfvarson J, Roelstraete B, Khalili H, Ludvigsson JF
PLoS Med 2023 Feb;20(2):e1004185

Downregulated Mucosal Autophagy, Alpha Kinase-1 and IL-17 Signaling Pathways in Active and Quiescent Ulcerative Colitis.
Moraes Holst L, Halfvarson J, Carlson M, Hedin C, Kruse R, Lindqvist CM, Bergemalm D, Almér S, Bresso F, Ling Lundström M, Repsilber D, D'Amato M, Keita Å, Hjortswang H, Söderholm J, Sundin J, Törnblom H, Simrén M, Strid H, Magnusson MK, Öhman L
Clin Exp Gastroenterol 2022 ;15():129-144

Mechanisms of mucosal healing: treating inflammatory bowel disease without immunosuppression?
Villablanca EJ, Selin K, Hedin CRH
Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 2022 Aug;19(8):493-507

Earnings during adulthood in patients with childhood-onset inflammatory bowel disease: a nationwide population-based cohort study.
Malmborg P, Everhov ÅH, Söderling J, Ludvigsson JF, Bruze G, Olén O
Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2022 Sep;56(6):1007-1017

Prevalence and Implications of Frailty in Older Adults With Incident Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: A Nationwide Cohort Study.
Kochar B, Jylhävä J, Söderling J, Ritchie CS, , Ludvigsson JF, Khalili H, Olén O
Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2022 Oct;20(10):2358-2365.e11

CD45RA+CD62L- ILCs in human tissues represent a quiescent local reservoir for the generation of differentiated ILCs.
Kokkinou E, Pandey RV, Mazzurana L, Gutierrez-Perez I, Tibbitt CA, Weigel W, Soini T, Carrasco A, Rao A, Nagasawa M, Bal SM, Jangard M, Friberg D, Lindforss U, Nordenvall C, Ljunggren M, Haapaniemi S, Keita ÅV, Söderholm J, Hedin C, Spits H, Bryceson YT, Mjösberg J
Sci Immunol 2022 Apr;7(70):eabj8301

Tissue-specific transcriptional imprinting and heterogeneity in human innate lymphoid cells revealed by full-length single-cell RNA-sequencing.
Mazzurana L, Czarnewski P, Jonsson V, Wigge L, Ringnér M, Williams TC, Ravindran A, Björklund ÅK, Säfholm J, Nilsson G, Dahlén SE, Orre AC, Al-Ameri M, Höög C, Hedin C, Szczegielniak S, Almer S, Mjösberg J
Cell Res 2021 May;31(5):554-568

Läkemedel vid inflammatorisk tarmsjukdom (IBD) - behandlings­rekommendation

JL
Content reviewer:
27-06-2023