Some of the biological mechanisms that cause irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may be in common with cardiovascular diseases (CVD). This was revealed by the study of an international research group which involved scientists from the Lum Giuseppe Degennaro University, Irgb-Cnr, Ceinge and the University of Naples Federico II, from Monash University (Australia), Cic bioGune (Spain) and the University of Groningen (Netherlands). “The awareness that the genetic makeup underlying IBS contributes in a similar way to CVD – states Mauro D'Amato, full professor of Medical Genetics at Lum University and coordinator of the study – suggests to us that some drugs and therapeutic approaches used to treat one or the other pathology could be applied to treat both”.
Irritable bowel syndrome – explains a note – is one of the most common gastrointestinal disorders worldwide and affects up to 10% of people (women more than men) with a complex variety of symptoms that include abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea and constipation, thus significantly reducing the quality of life of patients. The causes of IBS are not well understood, which results in a limited range of treatment options, which often only work in some patients. Family history and genetic predisposition to IBS are known, but the exact nature of the genes and biological mechanisms involved have remained largely elusive. The researchers studied data from UK Biobank and Lifelines, 2 major biobanks in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, and compared the DNA profiles of 24,735 people with IBS and 77,149 healthy individuals. They identified 4 regions of the genome, including 2 not previously reported, where certain DNA variants are more common in people with IBS.
The results, published in the journal 'Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology', overall implicate genes involved in important physiological processes such as the control of gastrointestinal motility, the integrity of the intestinal mucosa and the circadian rhythm. The team also analyzed the similarities between the genetics that predispose to IBS and that of other common diseases. In addition to the known overlap with mood and anxiety disorders, as revealed in previous studies, they identified a new link with various conditions and diseases of the cardiovascular system, including hypertension, ischemic (coronary) heart disease and angina pectoris. “I find this to be the most important result of our study”, comments D'Amato. The study has finally demonstrated that the heritability of IBS – the weight of genetics in predisposition to the disease – is stronger than previously recognized “strengthening the idea and the hope that further discoveries may come from other genetic studies currently underway on an even higher number of individuals”, he concludes.
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