Towards a dual-biomarker blood test for diagnosing intestinal ischemia

Intestinal ischemia occurs when the blood supply to the gastrointestinal system slows or stops, often due to a blood clot. If not treated in time, it can lead to severe intestinal damage, loss of viable tissue (intestinal infarction), and death. Together, consortium partners Maastricht University and Hycult Biotech designed this project to build a new blood test that can accurately diagnose intestinal ischemia patients and assess the severity of the condition.  

To improve the chances of recovery and preserve intestinal tissue, it is crucial to recognize early symptoms and speed up diagnosis, enabling proper treatment such as immediate surgery. Despite recent medical developments, the diagnosis remains challenging and frequently comes too late. This is because physical examination and blood tests show few abnormalities in the early stages, and the symptoms are often not specific. 

This project focused on developing and testing two blood tests that can help identify patients suffering from intestinal ischemia by reliably measure two specific substances released from the damaged intestine into their blood, either early or late, depending on the severity of the condition. Both tests are successfully developed and are now commercially available for research use. They were tested on over 100 patients suspected of having intestinal ischemia. The results suggest that the substances measured in blood are higher in patients with severe intestinal ischemia, but the tests seem less effective at distinguishing between mild cases from those without intestinal ischemia. Importantly, these results are preliminary, as patients with uncertain diagnosis were excluded.  

Further research is needed to determine if these tests can improve outcome and survival in severe cases by enabling faster treatment of this life-threatening condition. Additionally, developing new tests to better distinguish mild from non-ischemic cases could allow early intervention, preventing progression to more severe, irreversible intestinal ischemia.