Susceptibility To Crohn's Disease - An Important New Clue

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Source: Public Library of

Science Date: April 21, 2007

Crohn's

disease is a chronic relapsing inflammatory disorder of the intestinal tract

that affects an estimated 0.15% of people in the developed world. Common symptoms include abdominal pain and diarrhea, but

the disorder is often associated with debilitating clinical complications. Researchers from the University

of Liège,

Belgium, have

now uncovered an important clue to the susceptibility of individuals to this

disease.

In a

genome-wide association study with more than 300,000 single nucleotide

polymorphisms (SNPs) -- DNA sequence variations

occurring when a single nucleotide in the genome differs between members of a

species -- Cécile Libioulle

et al. identified a new susceptibility locus for Crohn's disease. Their results are published online in the open-access

journal PLoS Genetics.

Recent

advances in SNP genotyping technology have allowed systematic association

scanning of the entire genome for the detection of novel susceptibility loci --

fixed positions on a chromosome, such as the position of a gene. Libioulle and colleagues applied

this approach to Crohn's disease and identified the key locus on chromosome 5.

Individual

susceptibility to many common diseases, including

Crohn's disease, is determined by a combination of environmental and genetic

factors and identifying these genetic risk factors is one of the most important

objectives of modern medical genetics, potentially paving the way towards

personalized medicine and drug target identification.

CITATION:

Libioulle C, Louis E, Hansoul

S, Sandor C, Farnir F, et

al. (2007) Novel Crohn disease locus identified by

genome-wide association maps to a gene desert on 5p13.1 and modulates

expression of PTGER4. PLoS

Genet 3(4): e58. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.0030058

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