The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 31, 2010
Filed:
Oct. 24, 2003
James Hunter Boone, Christiansburg, VA (US);
David Maxwell Lyerly, Radford, VA (US);
Tracy Dale Wilkins, Riner, VA (US);
James Hunter Boone, Christiansburg, VA (US);
David Maxwell Lyerly, Radford, VA (US);
Tracy Dale Wilkins, Riner, VA (US);
Techlab, Inc., Blacksburg, VA (US);
Abstract
A method for the differentiation of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) from irritable bowel disease (IBS) followed by distinguishing ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease from other gastrointestinal illnesses. This highly differential method first uses the presence of elevated lactoferrin as a marker of intestinal inflammation to differentiate IBD from IBS. Patients suspected of IBD are then analyzed for fecal anti-antibodies (ASCA) as an indicator of Crohn's disease and fecal anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) as an indicator of ulcerative colitis. IBD patients are further monitored for intestinal inflammation using fecal lactoferrin to evaluate the effectiveness of medical therapy and to predict relapse. The apparatus comprises either a qualitative enzyme-linked immunoassay or other immunoassay that utilizes antibodies specific to human immunoglobins for the measurement of total endogenous lactoferrin, ASCA and ANCA in human feces. The method and apparatus can be used by healthcare providers to identify IBD and distinguish ulcerative colitis from Crohn's disease.