Lab-grown ‘mini guts’ to help kids with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

Researchers from Hudson Institute of Medical Research and Monash University have grown live models of paediatric patients’ digestive systems to investigate solutions for kids with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Using live tissue and bacteria from the intestine to create miniature 3D ‘organoid’ models, nicknamed ‘mini guts’, researchers have been able to test how and where the specific bacteria in a patient’s digestive system can affect tissue and cause inflammation.

This ecosystem, or microbiome, is unique to each person, which means an IBD treatment that works for one person may not work for another.

Published in the journal Scientific Reports, part of the prestigious Nature suite of journals, this research is the first to have developed an organoid model that incorporates both the intestinal lining and its bacteria, and pioneers the technology to inject bacteria into the intestinal organoids to study its impact on inflammation.

Personalised treatments for kids with IBD

Joint lead researcher Professor Helen Abud, from the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, said it takes researchers a step closer to personalised IBD treatments.

“The mini guts we have developed allow us to move past a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach,” Professor Abud said.

“By creating living replicas of a patient’s intestinal lining, we can observe how this critical barrier protects the body from harmful gut contents, and how it heals or breaks down when exposed to different bacteria. 

“These mini-guts organise themselves exactly like a real bowel lining, providing a beautiful and accurate tool for understanding the diversity of this disease.”

Associate Professor Edward Giles, joint lead and researcher at Hudson Institute of Medical Research , Monash University and paediatric gastroenterologist at Monash Children’s Hospital, said it has the potential to significantly improve care for children with IBD.

Early intervention is vital

“Children aged 9 to 18 represent a group where early intervention is vital, as they face decades of managing this chronic condition,” Associate Professor Giles said. 

“From a clinical perspective, this methodology is unique because it combines the expert study of a patient’s disease with the specific bacteria living at the site of their inflammation. 

“It gives us a way to test whether we can promote healing of the intestinal barrier or even find ‘protective’ bacteria that could become treatments themselves.”

First author Dr Eva Chan, from the Innate Immune Responses to Infection Research group in the Centre for Innate Immunity and Infectious Diseases at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research said: “This methodology isn’t just about recreating a disease state, it’s about developing a predictive research tool.”

“By building this biobank of matched organoids and bacterial collection from each individual patient, we are laying the groundwork for a future where we can test and tailor interventions in the lab before they ever reach the patient’s bedside.”