Loktionov A. Current approaches to disease severity and therapy effectiveness assessment in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. World J Gastrointest Pharmacol Ther 2026; 17(2): 116608 [DOI: 10.4292/wjgpt.v17.i2.116608]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Alexandre Loktionov, MD, PhD, Director, DiagNodus Ltd, St John’s Innovation Centre, Cowley Road, Cambridge CB4 0WS, United Kingdom. alex.loktionov@diagnodus.com
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Medicine, General & Internal
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Review
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This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World Journal of Gastrointestinal Pharmacology and Therapeutics
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2150-5349
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Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
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Loktionov A. Current approaches to disease severity and therapy effectiveness assessment in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. World J Gastrointest Pharmacol Ther 2026; 17(2): 116608 [DOI: 10.4292/wjgpt.v17.i2.116608]
World J Gastrointest Pharmacol Ther. Jun 5, 2026; 17(2): 116608 Published online Jun 5, 2026. doi: 10.4292/wjgpt.v17.i2.116608
Current approaches to disease severity and therapy effectiveness assessment in patients with inflammatory bowel disease
Alexandre Loktionov
Alexandre Loktionov, DiagNodus Ltd, Cambridge CB4 0WS, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Loktionov A is responsible for all work related to the preparation of this review paper; Loktionov A has designed paper structure, performed literature search, contributed figures and tables, analysed literature data and wrote the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Loktionov A reports personal fees from DiagNodus Ltd, outside the submitted work.
Corresponding author: Alexandre Loktionov, MD, PhD, Director, DiagNodus Ltd, St John’s Innovation Centre, Cowley Road, Cambridge CB4 0WS, United Kingdom. alex.loktionov@diagnodus.com
Received: November 17, 2025 Revised: December 4, 2025 Accepted: February 9, 2026 Published online: June 5, 2026 Processing time: 193 Days and 8.3 Hours
Abstract
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of chronic recurrent disorders, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis being its two major types. IBD patients require continuous lifetime monitoring of disease activity and effects of therapeutic interventions, achievement of stable remission being the goal of the current ‘treat-to-target’ strategy. This review considers a wide range of approaches applied for this purpose. Although ileocolonoscopy combined with histological evaluation and now employing modern endoscopic techniques is still regarded as the gold diagnostic standard, its inability of visualizing small intestine is a limitation. Alternative non-invasive techniques such as capsule endoscopy and, especially, cross-sectional imaging, comprising computed tomography enterography, magnetic resonance enterography, and intestinal ultrasound, are becoming increasingly popular. In addition, the use of molecular biomarkers detectable in human body fluids is a rapidly developing area, and recent rapid progress in gut microbiome research promises to add a new dimension to it. It is also anticipated that new approaches based upon multi-omics can identify new composite biomarkers useful for IBD monitoring. Artificial intelligence-driven integration of abundant information provided by various diagnostic and analytical modalities outlined in this review may help in transforming the current ‘one-size-fits-all’ treatment paradigm into a truly personalized model of IBD care.
Core Tip: Inflammatory bowel disease patients need continuous lifetime monitoring of disease activity and effects of therapeutic interventions. This review considers a wide range of approaches currently applied for this purpose. The reviewed modalities comprise clinical criteria, endoscopy, cross-sectional imaging, detection of biomarkers in body fluids and feces, gut microbiome analysis, and application of modern technologies, such as multi-omics and artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence-driven integration of abundant information provided by a range of diagnostic and analytical approaches outlined in this review may help in transforming the current ‘one-size-fits-all’ inflammatory bowel disease treatment concept into a truly personalized model of disease care.
