Gene study prompts bowel disease rethink

An international team of researchers investigating genetic variation in patients with inflammatory bowel disease have identified that genetic factors affecting the specific location of the inflammation in the gut may have implications for diagnosis and treatment of patients: October 2015

An international team of researchers investigating genetic variation in patients with inflammatory bowel disease have identified that genetic factors affecting the specific location of the inflammation in the gut may have implications for diagnosis and treatment of patients.

The study, recently published in the Lancet, has generated new understanding by revealing a continuum of inflammatory bowel diseases, and shows that genetic information could be used to reveal misdiagnoses. The research demonstrates the importance of worldwide clinical collaborations and using information about symptoms to better understand the genetics of complex diseases.

Dr Charlie Lees, a corresponding author, consultant gastroenterologist and senior lecturer at the Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, said “in order to personalise treatments, we need to be open-minded about the clinical categories we have constructed by observing symptoms in isolation. It is crucial that clinicians and researchers continue to work closely together and to share comprehensive data that will help to solve this complex puzzle”.

Read more from the University of Edinburgh, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, and the full Lancet article