An indicator of Crohn’s disease severity based on Turing patterns

Abstract

Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease, which has seriously affected the normal life of human beings. However, the quantitative indicators of CD severity mostly depends on imaging features or symptoms so far, which is not comprehensive. Therefore, in this paper, a rough pathological index of gauging CD severity is presented based on pattern dynamics of reaction–diffusion system about phagocytes and bacteria. Specifically, we use multi-scale analysis to obtain the amplitude equations determining Turing pattern structure with different bacterial biomass. The similar structures with resulting patterns could be observed in the images of CD in different inflammatory stages. Based on that, the rough indicator from the aspect of pathology is given, of which the grading mode is consistent with that on the basis of imaging features. Our results suggest the pathogenesis of CD in details and may provide a new insight into preventing and controlling other intestinal inflammatory diseases.