Disclosed are methods of predicting the development of medically refractory ulcerative colitis (MR-UC) in a patient In one embodiment, disclosed is a method of prognosing ulcerative colitis in an individual by determining the presence or absence of one or more risk variants, where the presence of one or more risk variants is indicative of a severe and/or aggressive form of ulcerative colitis. In another embodiment, the severe form of ulcerative colitis is indicative of MR-UC.

The present invention provides a method for diagnosing pancreatitis in a canine. The method involves the following steps: First, a specimen is obtained from a canine animal. Then, a concentration of a specific biomarker in the specimen is detected, and the detected concentration is compared with a predetermined threshold value. If the biomarker concentration exceeds the threshold, the canine is determined to have an increased risk of pancreatitis. The predetermined threshold is based on the biomarker concentration observed in healthy canine animals. The biomarker can include medium-chain acylcarnitine, long-chain acylcarnitine, or a combination of both. Medium-chain acylcarnitine refers to those molecules with 6-12 carbon atoms in the acyl chain. Long-chain acylcarnitine refers to those molecules with more than 12 carbon atoms in the acyl chain. Additionally, the invention provides a method for using acylcarnitines (medium-chain and/or long-chain) as biomarkers for diagnosing pancreatitis in canines.

The disclosure concerns methods and kits of diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and monitoring disease burden in patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the method comprising quantitative determination of the concentration of extracellular vesicles that are positive for one, two or three markers selected from thrombospondin-2 (THBS2), alkaline phosphatase placental-like 2 (ALPPL2), and macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in the patients' fluid samples.