Korean Medicine Institute Develops 'Simple Diagnostic Kit' for Irritable Bowel Syndrome

The Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine announced on the 25th that Dr. Park Gi-seon’s research team from the Department of Korean Medicine Science, in collaboration with Professors Kim Jin-seong and Hana-yeon from the Department of Korean Medicine at Kyung Hee Medical Center, has developed an ‘Exosome Bio-marker Diagnostic Kit’ for diagnosing irritable bowel syndrome.

'Exosome Biomarker Diagnostic Kit' for Irritable Bowel Syndrome Diagnosis. Provided by Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine

Irritable bowel syndrome is one of the diseases that cause discomfort in daily life and, if left untreated, can lead to an imbalance in the gastrointestinal immune system. It can also develop into other chronic intestinal diseases, making early diagnosis and treatment necessary.

However, until now, genome-based biomarkers for diagnosing irritable bowel syndrome had not been developed, limiting diagnosis to symptom assessment or patient medical history.

To address this, the joint research team conducted biomarker development research using ‘exosomes,’ nano-sized extracellular vesicles secreted by cells that reflect the patient’s physiological and pathological state, and succeeded in producing a prototype diagnostic kit.

During the research process, the team isolated blood exosomes from 30 healthy individuals and 30 patients with irritable bowel syndrome and analyzed the microRNAs inside the exosomes.

Among 14 types of microRNAs, six suspected to induce chronic intestinal diseases were selected to develop a prototype ‘Exosome Biomarker Diagnostic Kit for Irritable Bowel Syndrome.’

The prototype kit has the advantage of allowing simple prognosis assessment using only exosomes in the blood. It is also expected to quantitatively compare the severity of symptoms.

Dr. Ki-Seon Park, Department of Korean Medicine Science (Principal Researcher). Provided by Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine

Currently, the joint research team is recruiting an additional 60 patients with irritable bowel syndrome to improve the diagnostic kit. Follow-up clinical studies will focus on increasing the accuracy of the diagnostic kit and elucidating the biological mechanisms of exosomal microRNA analysis to enhance its usefulness and reliability in clinical settings.

The joint research team conducted the study with support from the basic project of the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine. Following the patent application in December 2022, the final registration process was completed in July last year. The invention is titled ‘Exosome Biomarkers for Diagnosis or Prediction of Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Their Uses.’

Dr. Park Gi-seon of the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine said, “We hope the prototype diagnostic kit for irritable bowel syndrome will become a ‘game changer’ in the field of biomarkers using exosomes,” adding, “The joint research team will continue follow-up studies to present quantitative criteria for the disease and focus on developing a diagnostic kit that enables personalized treatment and management.”