Scientists have identified a gene responsible for Crohn's disease, the debilitating inflammatory bowel disease. The discovery doesn't mean an immediate cure but could open up new treatment possibilities for some sufferers.
The discovery was made independently by two separate teams in Europe and in the US and details will be published later this month in the journal Nature. Some people with the disease have been found to have a gene mutation. The finding should bring new preventive therapies for those sufferers.
Crohn's causes a great deal of distress and discomfort and there is no definitive cause or cure. It is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the lining of the gut, causing severe symptoms which include pain, diarrhoea, fever, loss of appetite and loss of weight.
The gene produces a protein called Nod2 which is involved in the recognition of microbes and signalling in the immune system after infection. The mutation means that the Nod2 protein cannot signal properly and the researchers believe this shows a link between the immune response to microbes in the gut and the development of the disease.
For information the Irish Society for Colitis and Crohn's Disease can be reached at (01) 872-1416 and at a website: http://www.iscc.ie