research: overreacting intestine
24 March 2005
A second gene involved in our initial immune response to bacterial infection has been found to increase susceptibility to inflammatory bowel disease.
The two most common forms of the disease, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, can cause severe bouts of diarrhoea, rectal bleeding and abdominal pain. They are caused by inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract.
Dr Dermot McGovern, Dr Derek Jewell and colleagues in the Gastroenterology Unit and Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, have shown that a variation in the NOD1 gene, a close relative of the known risk gene NOD2, increases the risk of inflammatory bowel disease. This association is particularly strong in people who develop the disease when young.
Both NOD1 and NOD2 are part of the 'innate' immune system, responsible for the initial, nonspecific response to infection. This suggests that the variants may be driving an excessive immune response to bacteria in the intestine.
See also
Research: Gender, genetics and autism (News: 21 February 2005)