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NEW YORK, Mar 14 (Reuters Health) - By identifying more than 150 genes involved in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, scientists have deepened their understanding of the changes that accompany inflammatory bowel disease.
Dr. Shukti Chakravarti and associates from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, were particularly interested in pinpointing differences between ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease--two forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Previous studies had found only four genes involved in IBD.
The investigators used a new genetic technology called DNA microarray to look for differences in the expression of 7,306 genes in tissues taken from the large intestines of six patients with Crohn's disease, six patients with ulcerative colitis, and six healthy individuals. Their results are published in the March issue of Human Molecular Genetics.
A total of 170 genes showed significant differences in their expression levels--the degree to which they were turned on--in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, the researchers note. Most of the genes had not been previously associated directly with IBD, though a number were clustered within chromosome areas already linked to an increased risk of these diseases.
The functions of these genes spanned a broad spectrum of biological functions, the report indicates, including the inflammation control, cancer prevention, infection defense, and cell-cycle regulation.
Chakravarti, now at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, told Reuters Health that this information can be used both to improve the diagnosis of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, and to understand which genetic changes may lead to the development of these disorders.
"This study is a beginning for this kind of global gene expression profiling. As we and others begin to accumulate this kind of data, we can better classify ulcerative colitis and different types of Crohn's disease," Chakravarti said.
"Ultimately," Chakravarti concluded, "profiling of biopsy tissues will help to follow progression of these chronic diseases and even help to predict disease severity and possible tendencies for (complications)."
Inflammatory bowel diseases involve gastrointestinal symptoms including pain, diarrhea, bleeding, as well as weight loss and fever. Ulcerative colitis affects mainly the colon inner surface while Crohn's often extends to the small and large intestine.
SOURCE: Human Molecular Genetics 2001;10:445-456.
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