IBDanswers

By Laura Davis
Daily Post Staff
Jan 23 2004

BANANAS are the key to a treatment for a debilitating bowel condition, Liverpool scientists have discovered.

Treatment for Crohn's Disease that has long eluded health experts has been found in a West Indian variety of the fruit and helps relieve symptoms.

Biotechnology company Provexis is developing a new food product that will be used to treat the disease, which is currently incurable.

Professor Jonathon Rhodes, of Liverpool University's department of medicine, discovered protein from plantain bananas prevents bacteria from gathering in the lining of the gut.

Scientists believe these micro-organisms contribute to the swelling that is one of the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Prof Rhodes said the new treatment could reduce the need for surgery. He said: "Crohn' s Disease is an unpleasant condition that often requires surgery so if this fibre preparation reduces disease activity it could represent a very significant advance in treatment."

Plantain are large bananas that need to be cooked before being eaten. To experience relief, the patient would have to eat large quantities of the fruit every day.

The new process extracts protein from the bananas and produces it in concentrated form which could be taken in a drink or a cake.

Dr Steve Franklin, chief executive of Provexis, said: "This is an exciting collaboration for us as it will enable us to expand our product portfolio and also build a new relationship with a world-class research team."

IBD affects around 95,000 people in the UK and this number is steadily rising.

The most popular theory is that Crohn's is caused by the body reacting to a virus or bacteria by causing ongoing swelling of the intestine.

Symptoms include abdominal pain, often in the the lower, right area, rectal bleeding, diarrhoea, weight loss and fever.

The most common complication is blockage of the intestine which occurs when the disease thickens the gut wall with swelling and scar tissue, narrowing the passage.

There is currently no cure for the disease but treatment includes drugs, nutritional supplements and surgery.

Provexis, based at the Mersey Bio business incubator, Crown Street, specialises in creating and marketing products which are derived from plants and have health or medical benefits.

The firm is also developing a fruit drink for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular dis-ease which contains an extract from tomatoes to thin the blood.

Mersey Bio is an incubator for biotechnology businesses, forming part of Liverpool University's £23m Biosciences Centre.

John McQuillian, Mersey Bio director, said: "I am delighted that a young biotechnology company based in the incubator and a leading Liverpool University academic have come together to develop a new medical product."

* THE National Association for Colitis and Crohn's Disease support line is 0845-130 3344.

Sidebar: SPECIAL VARIETY THAT IS SYMBOL OF FERTILITY

• PLANTAINS are slightly bigger than yellow bananas and have a hard skin.
• They are cooked when still green and used in dessert dishes when ripe.
• A 3.5oz serving contains 119 calories and contains vitamin A.
• They are most commonly eaten in the zone known as the banana belt, which includes South East Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
• An average sized plantain is about 30 cm long and can grow to 50 cm.
• In Africa, they are known as "potatoes of the air".
• In Eastern Africa, plantain are fermented to make beer or wine.
• They are not native to Africa but arrived during the first millennium AD.
• Plantain trees are symbols of fertility.