Cure8 news brief
This grant-funded study aims to find whether exposure to “forever chemicals” (PFAS) is associated with biological changes that occur before Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis are diagnosed. If links are found and replicated, it could point to environmental drivers and early biomarkers relevant to IBD risk.
Researchers studying environmental causes of IBD, clinicians interested in IBD etiology and biomarkers, and patients curious about environmental risk factors for Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis.
NIH awarded a $3.3M R01 to Mount Sinai investigators to study whether PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) exposures are linked to pre-diagnostic biological changes — especially blood glycosylation patterns — that precede Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis.
The human arm will analyze archived pre-diagnostic blood samples from the PREDICTS military cohort using mass spectrometry to quantify PFAS and characterize glycosylation, while complementary mouse experiments will test effects of PFAS on the intestinal glycocalyx and inflammation.
This is a grant-funded research program (planned work), not a report of new findings. The investigators will test associations among PFAS exposure, molecular glycosylation changes, and later IBD diagnosis, and will examine both individual PFAS chemicals and mixtures.
The announcement does not provide participant counts, results, or validated biomarkers and explicitly notes that observed associations would not prove causation.
If completed as planned, the study could identify pre-diagnostic molecular signatures linked to environmental exposure and suggest biological pathways connecting PFAS to intestinal immune regulation, which might inform future risk assessment or prevention research. For now, there are no clinical recommendations or proven biomarkers from this project.
The source describes a planned five-year R01 research program using pre-diagnostic military cohort samples and mouse models; it is a grant announcement, not peer-reviewed results. Any associations found will require replication and validation before being used clinically.
Review the original publication for the complete reporting, methods, and context.
This Cure8 brief is based on source text from the linked article. Cure8 is informational only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
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