Crohn’s Disease Has Many Different Genetic Variations
Researchers have found 32 gene variations that probably contribute to Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disorder.
The new research significantly increases the number of genetic segments that are associated with Crohn’s disease, which is the most common inflammatory bowel disease. There are likely to be many more still undiscovered genes that are involved in the development of this condition.
The list of known genes for Crohn’s disease accounts for only a fifth of the gene factors in Crohn’s disease. There are probably hundreds of genes that predispose individuals to the development the disease–it is believed that a number of the individual genes are required to cause the disease–each genetic factor slightly raising the risk for getting the disease..
Researchers have long been aware that genetic factors, along with various environmental influences, raise the risk that an individual will develop many illnesses such as asthma, high blood pressure, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer and heart disease.
The human genome contains 3 billion sub-units of DNA. Learning which portions of the DNA code for which proteins and how they interact to produce normal or abnormal disease states is the enormous puzzle that geneticists face. The payoff is obviously extraordinary–cures for ailments that have plagued mankind for millenia.
Genome association studies, in which genetic markers from large numbers of patients are analyzed to determine gene differences between diseased and healthy patients.
For Crohn’s disease, ( reported in the journal Nature Genetics) scientists have the most thoroughly decoded genetic puzzle for a common disease.
Three of the genes that lead to Crohn’s disease have also been shown to influence the risk of developing type 1 diabetes as well as asthma. A common genetic mechanism probably links these disorders.
Crohn’s disease sickens about in 500 people in the industrialized world. Crohn’s causes inflammation, abdominal pain, diarrhea and other unpleasant symptoms.
Modern biotech drugs including Humira, Cimzia and Remicade improve the condition but are not cures. Surgery is often necessary for patients who become sick with Crohn’s disease.
The CCR6 gene is a very important subject of research because it is a part of the signaling machinery that causes white blood cells in the intestines to inappropriately attack the normal tissues causing inflammation of formerly healthy tissues. Activation of white blood cells can also lead to inflamed joints–the CCR6 gene may influence rheumatoid arthritis.
ref: http://www.massgeneral.org/news/releases/041507daly.html
