Gut-Blood-Liver Axis: Circulating Microbiome as Noninvasive Biomarker for Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis

• Funding source: Baltic Research Programme / Research Council of Lithuania
• Grant agreement number: S-BMT-21-11 (LT08-2-LMT-K-01- 060)
• Date: January 2020 – December 2024
• Description: A multidisciplinary research team composed of clinicians, molecular biologists and biostatisticians from Norway and Baltic countries will aim to determine circulating blood microbiome signatures in UC and related autoimmune liver disease - PSC. This aim will be achieved through the use of very well-defined large patient cohorts, advanced metagenomic sequencing techniques, and bioinformatical analysis. In addition, with the use of a germ-free UC mice model, mechanistic insights of bacterial transfer to the blood circulation will be evaluated. The project will generate clinically relevant data on the diagnostic and prognostic value of the specific circulating blood microbiota profiles, that could benefit to the generation of new non-invasive tools in the personalized management of UC and PSC. The study team will merge existing know-how, equipment and biobank resources across four different countries in order to enable the transfer of knowledge across different institutions and promote the training of young scientists and future collaborations.