Grant: Team Grant: Health Challenges in Chronic Inflammation Initiative (LOI)

The irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and interstitial cystitis (IC) or bladder pain syndrome are very common disorders affecting predominantly women and are poorly understood. As a result, patients often undergo prolonged and invasive testing and ineffective treatments and, because of their chronic nature, suffer from lost work days and decreased quality of life. This proposal is novel because, although patients presenting to a busy GI clinic would be diagnosed with IBS and those presenting to a busy Urology clinic would be diagnosed with IC, it recognizes that a large proportion of these patients are actually suffering from the same disorder. Furthermore, many of these patients have evidence of inflammation in their bowel and bladder, suggesting a common underlying mechanism. We propose to study this distinct clinical entity using our large group of IBS and IC patients to identify the features of this combined disorder, develop novel tests to help identify the disorder (i.e. biomarkers), develop new tools to monitor symptoms and quality of life, and then conduct clinical trials to learn which anti-inflammatory drugs might be effective in treating this entity. The results will enable us to educate doctors and patients about this common condition, including how to accurately and efficiently diagnose the disorder, better understand what causes IBS and IC disorders, and develop new and effective treatments which are targeted specifically to those with an inflammatory component to their disorder.