The study incorporates confocal endomicroscopy as an additional diagnostic modality for assessing barrier dysfunction and treatment response in UC patients. Confocal endomicroscopy enables real-time visualization of mucosal changes at a cellular level during endoscopy, potentially enhancing the detection of treatment response and mucosal healing.
Eligible patients will undergo baseline assessment, including clinical evaluation, partial Mayo score calculation, endoscopic evaluation, biopsies with histological evaluation and confocal endomicroscopy. Follow-up assessments will be conducted at 8 weeks and 6 months after initiating therapy with small molecules .
The study aims to enroll a sample size of 26 UC patients to pilot the feasibility and utility of confocal endomicroscopy in assessing barrier dysfunction and treatment response.
