Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that affects the colon and the rectum. Numerous factors, including genetic, environmental, luminal, and mucosal immune dysregulation, have been proposed as potential contributors to the pathophysiology of this disease, which has an unclear etiology. It has been demonstrated that developed nations have a higher incidence of the disease. Advances in medicine and new innovative treatments have enabled a paradigm shift, in treatment goals from symptomatic relief to endoscopic and histological healing to achieve improved long-term outcomes and maintain remission.
Over the past two decades, the options for medical therapy have expanded and today include biologics and small molecules. In addition to biological therapy, conventional therapeutic approaches are used to control the exacerbated host immune response. A protein or gene that is present in the body is employed as the "target" in biological treatments. Human cells are used to extract and isolate recombinant DNA, which is then modified. To express the desired gene product, the modified segment is introduced into a vector. TNF-alpha, Integrin receptor and JAK intracellular protein (mostly JAK1) are potential targets in UC. These proteins and cytokines are crucial in the development and progression of inflammation, thus novel biological therapies aim to target these molecules. Additionally, non-biological pharmacological treatments for UC may encompass the use of different drug classes such as, glucocorticoids, aminosalicylates, and immunomodulators.