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World J Gastrointest Surg. Nov 27, 2014; 6(11): 208-219
Published online Nov 27, 2014. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v6.i11.208
Diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease: Potential role of molecular biometrics
Amosy E M’Koma
Amosy E M’Koma, Department of Biochemistry and Cancer Biology, Meharry Medical College School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37208-3599, United States
Amosy E M’Koma, Department of Surgery, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, United States
Author contributions: M’Koma AE contributed not only to conception and design but also participated in the acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data and drafting the manuscript.
Supported by NIH, No. R21DK095168, U54MD007593 and UL1TR000445
Correspondence to: Amosy E M’Koma, MD, MS, PhD, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Biochemistry and Cancer Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Cancer Biology, Meharry Medical College School of Medicine, 1005 Dr. D. B. Todd Jr. Blvd., Nashville, TN 37208-3599, United States. amkoma@mmc.edu
Telephone: +1-615-3276796 Fax: +1-615-3276440
Received: February 27, 2014
Revised: October 16, 2014
Accepted: October 23, 2014
Published online: November 27, 2014
Processing time: 284 Days and 3.2 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Pouch surgery (the restorative proctocolectomy and ileal pouch-anal anastomosis for the curative surgical treatment of ulcerative colitis and familial adenomatous polyposis) replaces the colon and rectum after proctocolectomy with a pouch constructed from the distal small bowel (ileum) and sutured to the anal canal above the dentate/pectinate line preserving the anal sphincters. The operation restores gut continuity, defecation, deferral, and discrimination, if the diagnosis is correct, which is unpredictable in 30% of the colonic-inflammatory bowel disease-patients. Mass spectrometry and imaging mass spectrometry are groundbreaking, non-invasive analytical technologies with the ability to directly measure individual molecular species in complex clinical specimens. These technologies provide quantitative and qualitative analysis of cellular systems, and allow differentiation between disease and normal molecules from the same organ. These characteristics offer diagnostic and prognostic value for clinical medicine.