The International Organization for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IOIBD) granted Joana Torres , Hospital Beatriz Ângelo and Hospital da Luz gastroenterologist, a 50 thousand euros’ fellowship to conduct a research project on the influence of certain environmental factors (exposure to heavy metals) in the development of the disease. The project by Joana Torres – “ Fetal and postnatal metal dysregulation as environmental risk factors for IBD ” – was selected among 12 candidates and will be based on samples of milk teeth donated by people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and people without the disease. The research arose in the sequence of a collaboration of the gastroenterologist with the departments of researchers Manish Arora (Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, in New York), Jean-Frédéric Colombel and Inga Peter (Mount Sinai Hospital). Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) encompasses two diseases: Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis . Both are chronic diseases that cause inflammation of the intestine and include periods of aggravation and remission. These are diseases usually diagnosed at late adolescence or early adult life, and the causes are yet today unknown . “ The recent increase in cases all over the world, and especially in developing countries, suggests a strong role of environmental factors. Besides, there is epidemiologic evidence that certain exposures in early periods of life may be determinant. The study of exposure to such factors is, nevertheless, a clinical challenge ”, explains Joana Torres. In this sense, the purpose of the research in question is to evaluate if exposure to heavy metals in periods such as intrauterine life and childhood may be related with IBD, resorting to the analysis of milk teeth collected from individuals with or without the disease or their family members, with or without the disease. The explanation for this method is that milk teeth, like a tree trunk, grow circumferentially, by layers, storing information on different composites to which we are exposed since in-uterus life till the age when the tooth falls out. Resorting to laser technologies, it is possible to evaluate the matrix of those teeth and identify potential associations between those exposures in early stages of development and the existence of IBD. This research will also be divulged by the Portuguese Association of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (APDI). To participate, enrol yourself (you will be contacted afterwards by phone). All milk teeth donations are welcomed.
