WP 8 Development of diagnostic and prognostic tools

This WP led by Ricardo Brandwijk (HB) and Dr. Javier Santos (VHIR) will validate candidate molecules as biomarkers of IBS and comorbid IBS in non-invasive human samples (serum/plasma and/or faecal samples). This process will support the development and implementation of robust and well-validated tools to enable improved diagnosis, prognosis and disease/therapy monitoring (e.g. ELISA, point-of-care-tests, nCounter multi-omics). In addition, assays for the quantification of neuro-humoral and inflammatory regulator molecules in preclinical models will be developed in order to further validate the use of translational animal models to investigate causative mechanisms underlying IBS and its associated comorbidities. In accordance with the experimental design of DISCOvERIE, assays will be developed to quantify regulator molecules involved in intestinal barrier permeability, microbiome interactions, mucosal immune cell activation and central nervous system function in samples from both, human and animal models. The main output of this WP will be the development of fast, non-invasive diagnostic tests, which will be made commercially available.