The genetic jigsaw of inflammatory bowel disease
- Correspondence to:
Dr D A Watts, Gastrointestinal Unit, The University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK;
dwatts{at}ed.ac.uk
Abstract
Following a prolonged period of relative inertia, real progress has been made in the past few years in understanding the pathogenesis of the chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Clinical experience, epidemiological studies, and molecular genetics have provided strong evidence that both genetic and environmental factors are important in disease pathogenesis, and gene–environmental interaction determines disease susceptibility and behaviour.
