Extracellular Matrix Components as Diagnostic Tools in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Abstract

Simple SummaryFor decades, the extracellular matrix (ECM) has been defined as a structure component playing a rather neglected role in the human body. In recent years, research has shed light on the role of ECM within cellular processes, including proliferation, migration and differentiation, as well as in inflammation. In inflammation, ECM composition is constantly being remodeled and undergoes dynamic and rapid changes. Tracking these changes could serve as a novel diagnostic tool. Inflammatory bowel disease is accompanied by complications such as fibrosis, stenosis and fistulas. All of these structural complications involve excessive synthesis or degradation of ECM. With this review, we explored whether the analysis of ECM composition can be of support in diagnosing inflammatory bowel disease and whether changes within ECM can help to predict a complicated disease course early on.Work from the last years indicates that the extracellular matrix (ECM) plays a direct role in various cellular processes, including proliferation, migration and differentiation. Besides homeostatic processes, its regulatory function in inflammation becomes more and more evident. In inflammation, such as inflammatory bowel disease, the ECM composition is constantly remodeled, and this can result in a structuring of fistulizing disease course. Thus, tracking early ECM changes might bear the potential to predict the disease course. In this review, we provide an overview of relevant diagnostic methods, focusing on ECM changes.