Dynamic changes in extracellular vesicle-associated miRNAs elicited by ultrasound in inflammatory bowel disease patients

Background

Diagnosis of IBD as well as monitoring of disease activity can be challenging and most often requires endoscopic assessment as rather invasive methods. Ultrasound assessment becomes more and more available on the global scale as a suitable alternative. Furthermore, studies in in vitro experiments demonstrated that ultrasound waves can trigger cells to release different molecules as they use to do without stimulation. This inspired us, and we asked the question, whether ultrasound investigations as performed in clinical routine are able to alter molecule release from inflamed gut that can be measured in the peripheral blood.

Key Findings

We focused on so called extracellular vesicles, means small bubbles that are actively produced by cells and can also be taken up by other recipient cells. These bubbles contain certain molecules like micro-RNAs, that can regulate gene programs of the recipient cells. We saw, that ultrasound application led to altered numbers of these vesicles in the blood, and that they contain different miRNAs. This effect was most pronounced in IBD patients with high intestinal disease activity.