The gap between available treatment and actual patient need
At the University of Tokyo, scientists have turned stem cells into a working model of the human intestine — and through it, found that a compound long hidden in black licorice may hold new promise for the millions living with inflammatory bowel disease. Glycyrrhizin, drawn from a plant root with centuries of medicinal history, emerged from a screen of 3,500 candidates as a meaningful reducer of intestinal inflammation, performing well in both lab tissue and living mice. The finding matters not only for what it might offer IBD patients whose current treatments fall short, but for what it reveals about the power of stem cell models to finally open a bottleneck that has long slowed the search for better therapies.
- Four million people worldwide live with IBD's relentless cycle of inflammation, pain, and fatigue — and for many, existing treatments simply do not work.
- The core obstacle has always been the lab: without a reliable human intestinal model, testing thousands of drug candidates was more guesswork than science.
- Tokyo researchers broke through that barrier by growing functional intestinal tissue from stem cells, giving them a system that responds to disease conditions the way real tissue does.
- Screening 3,500 compounds against that model, glycyrrhizin — a substance derived from black licorice — rose to the top, reducing cell death and inflammation in both lab tissue and IBD mice.
- The results are early and human clinical trials remain ahead, but the stem cell model itself may prove as significant as the compound it helped discover.
Scientists at the University of Tokyo have grown a working replica of the human intestine from stem cells — and used it to identify a surprising candidate for treating inflammatory bowel disease. The compound is glycyrrhizin, a substance found in black licorice, which emerged from a systematic screen of roughly 3,500 potential drug candidates as one of the strongest protectors of intestinal cells against inflammatory damage.
IBD is a chronic, unrelenting condition. The digestive tract remains persistently inflamed, and patients endure diarrhea, abdominal pain, fatigue, and complications that reshape everyday life. Around 4 million people are managing the disease globally, and that number is growing. Many patients see little benefit from current anti-inflammatory and immune-suppressing therapies, leaving a significant gap between what medicine can offer and what patients actually need.
The real innovation here may be the model itself. Reliable human intestinal tissue has long been the missing piece in IBD drug discovery — without it, high-throughput screening of thousands of compounds lacked a meaningful biological target. Yu Takahashi's team solved this by coaxing stem cells into functional intestinal tissue, then exposing it to the inflammatory protein known to trigger IBD. The tissue responded as real tissue would, giving researchers a dependable system to test against.
Glycyrrhizin had appeared in earlier IBD studies, but this work added significant weight to those hints. In the stem cell-derived tissue, it meaningfully reduced cell death. In mice engineered to develop IBD-like symptoms, it lowered inflammation and protected intestinal cells. The researchers are measured about what comes next — clinical trials in humans will be essential to confirm safety and efficacy. But the broader implication is clear: stem cell intestinal models could become standard tools for drug discovery, and the bottleneck that has long slowed IBD treatment innovation may finally be giving way.
Scientists at the University of Tokyo have built a working replica of the human intestine from stem cells, and in testing thousands of compounds against it, they found something unexpected: a substance in black licorice called glycyrrhizin appears to calm the inflammation that defines inflammatory bowel disease. The discovery emerged from a straightforward but laborious process—screening roughly 3,500 potential drug candidates to see which ones could protect intestinal cells from damage. When glycyrrhizin rose to the top of the list, the researchers tested it further in both their lab-grown tissue and in mice engineered to have IBD-like symptoms. In both settings, the compound reduced cell death and lowered inflammation.
IBD is a chronic condition that never really stops. The digestive tract stays inflamed, and patients live with persistent diarrhea, abdominal pain, fatigue, and complications that reshape their daily routines. Around 4 million people worldwide are managing the disease right now, and that number is climbing. The problem is that existing treatments—anti-inflammatory medications and drugs designed to suppress the immune system—do not work well enough for many patients. Some people see their symptoms persist despite therapy. Others do not respond to the drugs at all. This gap between available treatment and actual patient need is what drives the search for something better.
The real bottleneck in finding new IBD treatments has always been the lab itself. Researchers need a model of human intestinal tissue that behaves like the real thing, something they can expose to disease conditions and then test compounds against. Without that, high-throughput screening—the process of rapidly testing thousands of potential drugs—becomes guesswork. Yu Takahashi's team solved this by growing human intestinal tissue from stem cells. They then exposed the tissue to a major inflammatory protein known to trigger IBD in patients. The lab-grown tissue responded as expected: inflammation and cell death followed. Now they had a reliable system.
With a working model in hand, the researchers began their systematic search. They tested roughly 3,500 compounds, watching to see which ones could protect the intestinal cells from the inflammatory damage. Glycyrrhizin emerged as one of the strongest candidates. The compound is not new to science—earlier studies had already hinted that it might help in cellular and animal models of IBD. But this new research added weight to those earlier findings. In the stem cell-derived intestinal tissue, glycyrrhizin significantly reduced cell death. When the team moved to living mice with IBD, the results held up: the compound lowered inflammation and reduced damage to intestinal cells.
What matters now is the next step. The researchers are clear that these early results, while encouraging, are not the end of the story. Clinical trials in human patients will be necessary to determine whether glycyrrhizin can actually treat IBD safely and effectively in people, and whether it causes harmful side effects that did not show up in the lab or in mice. But the work points toward something larger: stem cell-derived intestinal models could become standard tools for drug discovery in inflammatory bowel disease and perhaps other digestive disorders. The bottleneck that has slowed treatment innovation may finally be opening.
Notable Quotes
The researchers say the findings demonstrate how stem cell-derived intestinal models could become valuable tools for discovering new drugs for inflammatory bowel disease.— Research team led by Yu Takahashi, University of Tokyo
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does the lab model matter so much? Can't researchers just test compounds on patients directly?
Because you need to know a compound is worth testing before you put it in a person. A good lab model lets you screen thousands of candidates quickly and cheaply. Without it, you're essentially guessing which ones might work.
So glycyrrhizin worked in the lab-grown tissue and in mice. Does that mean it will work in people?
Not necessarily. Animal models and lab tissue can behave differently from a living human body. That's why clinical trials exist—to find out what actually happens when you give this to real patients with real IBD.
Four million people have IBD globally. Why haven't we solved this already?
Because the disease is complicated, and current drugs do not work for everyone. Some patients do not respond at all. Others respond for a while and then stop. The need for new options is real and urgent.
What makes glycyrrhizin special compared to what's already out there?
We do not know yet. That is what the clinical trials will tell us. Right now, we know it reduced inflammation in a lab model and in mice. Whether it is safer, more effective, or better tolerated than existing drugs—that remains to be seen.
If this works, how long until patients can actually take it?
Years, probably. Clinical trials take time. But if glycyrrhizin proves safe and effective, it could offer relief to people for whom current treatments have failed.