Scientists dig into the potato’s potential to fight gut inflammation
There’s more beneath the skin of a potato than starch. A Northeastern researcher is studying whether a tiny peptide derived from it could offer a new way to treat Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
For writer and speaker Amber Tresca, ulcerative colitis — an intestinal disorder — meant planning every moment of her life around one question.
Would there be a bathroom within reach?
That meant no theme parks with lines. No jobs with long commutes. No shopping trips downtown, she told Northeastern Global News.
Ulcerative colitis, or UC, the condition that Tresca has, is one of several inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), Northeastern biology professor Emeka Okeke explained. The umbrella term covers long-lasting autoimmune disorders that occur when the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy intestinal tissue, causing inflammation, pain and diarrhea.
The main types of autoimmune intestinal disorders are Crohn’s disease, which can affect any part of the digestive tract, and ulcerative colitis, which targets the large intestine.
“The problem is that … we don’t have any cure for them,” Okeke said. “What we only have is treatments that manage the condition.”
Okeke is investigating a possible new remedy from an unlikely source: the potato.
His team is studying a protein that comes from the humble spud. Proteins are made of molecules called amino acids, which join together in chains. Short segments of these chains are known as peptides.
One short peptide made from six amino acids turned out to have potent anti-inflammatory properties. As part of their research, Okeke’s team recreated this peptide in the lab.
To make it, they link the same building blocks into a growing chain one at a time, using the amino acid sequence of the original peptide as a guide. They’re now studying the lab-made peptide’s ability to treat intestinal inflammation.
The potato may seem like a strange place to look for medicine in the first place.
But while French fries, cheesy tots and loaded spuds may have done a number on its reputation, the tuber hasn’t always been a diet disaster.
“It has been known in European folk medicine as early as the first decade of the 19th century that potato juice is beneficial in gastrointestinal problems like stomach ulcers,” Okeke explained.
The peptide that Okeke is researching acts as an antioxidant, counteracting the hydrogen peroxide and other oxidants produced during the immune response, Okeke explained. In excess, these substances damage the colon and intestinal tract in IBD, he added.
The peptide targets inflammation without disabling the immune system itself.
Okeke’s team is investigating the mechanism behind the potato’s power. His team envisions concentrating the peptide into a supplement.
“We are also trying to figure out how this peptide works,” he said, by studying how it enters cells and which proteins it binds to. If multiple pathways play a role, they’ll determine which one is more relevant, he explained.
They’re also looking into whether the peptide can promote helpful gut bacteria.
Next, Okeke plans to test the compound in mice, starting with a general model of colon inflammation known as colitis. That means inducing the condition in the animals and feeding them the peptide by mouth to see if it helps.
If that goes well, clinical trials are next, he said.
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For anyone living with IBD, a breakthrough couldn’t come any sooner. After all, the condition often reroutes a person’s entire life.
For Tresca, it meant letting go of dreams.
“I wanted to serve in the Peace Corps, but people with ulcerative colitis were not accepted,” she said. “As a job seeker, I worried my diagnosis would be discovered and I would never be hired or that I would be fired.”
But while IBDs can place predictable limitations on life, they also stage sneak attacks that can be just as debilitating.
TV anchor-turned-advocate for IBD patients Natalie Hayden knows that whiplash all too well.
In 2014, life went from business as usual to a medical emergency in a matter of hours. After anchoring the morning at an ABC station in Illinois, clocking in a nine-mile run in preparation for a marathon and driving two hours to see her boyfriend, she found herself doubled over in pain. By evening, she was in the hospital with a bowel obstruction.
“We’re constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop,” she said.
Both Tresca and Hayden eventually found ways to manage their conditions.
For Tresca, that meant undergoing two-stage J-Pouch surgery in 1999 at the age of 26, ten years after being first diagnosed. The procedure removes the colon and rectum and uses part of the small intestine to create an internal pouch. A blogger at AboutIBD.com and host of the About IBD podcast, she now works as a medical writer and editor.
Hayden, who now supports other on her blog, Lights, Camera, Crohn’s, left the hospital with 22 pills after her diagnosis in 2005 at age 21. She eventually turned to Humira — a biologic injection that targets specific parts of the immune system. Biologics are medications produced in living cells, such as yeast, bacteria or animal cells.
“We constantly grapple with the risk vs. benefit of being on a medication,” she explained. “While I don’t have a problem with needles, more treatment options in pill form would be fantastic.”
That’s exactly what Okeke hopes to find.
“It will be really awesome if we can use a substance derived from a plant that you are already eating and which will have limited side effects to actually reduce inflammation in the gut,” Okeke said.
