A multimodal characterisation of genital Crohn's disease
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Characterising the clinical, immune and microbial features of genital Crohn's disease.
IRAS ID
321786
Contact name
Deepak Selvakumar
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Crohn’s disease (CD) is a form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) that can affect anywhere from the mouth to the bottom. CD is a lifelong incurable disease that can be managed with medication, or in some cases surgery. While CD is often thought of as only affecting the bowel, the skin is also involved in as many as 4 in 10 patients. A small group of these patients have genital CD.
Genital CD is an under-reported and often unrecognised form of CD that causes painful swelling (inflammation) and damage to the skin around the genitals, perineum and groins. This has a devastating impact on physical and mental health. Our research has shown that young women are disproportionately affected and can experience symptoms for years before they are diagnosed. Currently, little is known about how best to diagnose or treat this condition.
IBD is caused by the immune system reacting in the wrong way to the bacteria in our bowel. However, we don’t yet know what causes the skin inflammation associated with CD. Studying the immune response and the types of bacteria on the swollen and ulcerated skin, we enable better understanding of what causes this form of CD. We will also determine the impact on quality of life for patients. This work aims to find better ways to diagnose this condition and identify which treatments are most likely to be effective.
The study will recruit patients older than the age of 18, diagnosed with CD affecting the genitalia and perineum. They will undergo skin swabs, asked to complete questionnaires and take part in interviews. Archived surplus skin biopsy samples, taken from people with this condition will be analysed. This work will be carried out at Manchester University NHS Trust and laboratories at the University of Manchester over three years.
REC name
Wales REC 5
REC reference
23/WA/0164
Date of REC Opinion
25 May 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion