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Oct. 26, 2006 -- Scientists have spotted what they suspect is the first of several genes tied to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
The gene is called IL23R. It's noted by Yale University's Judy Cho, MD, and colleagues in Science's early online edition.
Inflammatory bowel disease includes Crohn's diseaseCrohn's disease and ulcerative colitisulcerative colitis. Its exact cause is unknown.
About a million people in the U.S. have IBD, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
The gene discovery is "not a gene test" for IBD, and it's "not going to be an immediate panacea" for people with IBD, Cho tells WebMD. "But we have a lot better information, and the power of information, I think, is going to hopefully make a difference."
For instance, the gene findings may eventually lead to new drugs to treat IBD.
"It basically says, 'OK, let's put this at the top of the list of things that we should really work on,'" Cho says.
Inflammation Link
"Inflammatory bowel disease is an uncontrolled chronic inflammation of the intestines," Cho tells WebMD. "As you might imagine, the inflammatory process is very complex.
"Imagine a fire where there's all kinds of things that are contributing to the fire," Cho says. "The power of genetics is that it identifies ... the trigger that started the whole process."
A certain chemical pathway in the body, called the interleukin-23 pathway, was highlighted in other IBD studies, Cho notes.
"Now the genetics says the same thing," Cho says.
Gene Study
Cho's team checked the DNA of nearly 1,000 people with Crohn's disease and almost 1,000 people without either form of IBD. All participants were whites of European descent.
The scientists looked for DNA differences in the patients and the people without IBD. Several variations of the IL23R gene -- which rules the interleukin-23 pathway -- stood out.
In particular, people with an uncommon gene variation were two to four times less likely to have Crohn's disease, Cho says.
"So instead of thinking about the genetics of disease, maybe you should be thinking about the genetics of health," Cho says.