Department of Internal Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Gut Liver. 2013 Nov;7(6):661-7. doi: 10.5009/gnl.2013.7.6.661. Epub 2013 Aug 14.
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Seasonal variation may influence the development and exacerbation of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, most epidemiologic studies on this topic have been conducted in Western countries. The purpose of this study was to determine whether birth dates and symptom flares follow a seasonal pattern in Korean patients with IBD.
Patients with a diagnosis of IBD established between January 2003 and December 2010 were investigated at six university hospitals in Korea. The expected births and flares, with a uniform distribution during the year and considering differences in the number of days in the months of 1 year, were calculated.
A total of 411 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and 316 patients with Crohn disease (CD) were included in the study. Birth during the winter period, and especially in January and February, was associated with an increased risk of IBD, especially in UC patients. The symptom flares of CD patients occurred most frequently in the spring, with a nadir in the autumn. However, no disease flare seasonality was noted for UC patients.
Our data suggest that seasonally varying environmental factors during pregnancy and the postpartum period are associated with a susceptibility to IBD later in life and that exacerbations of CD are influenced by seasonal factors.
背景/目的：季节变化可能会影响炎症性肠病（IBD）的发展和恶化。然而，大多数关于这一主题的流行病学研究都是在西方国家进行的。本研究旨在确定韩国 IBD 患者的出生日期和症状发作是否存在季节性模式。
在韩国的六所大学医院调查了 2003 年 1 月至 2010 年 12 月期间确诊为 IBD 的患者。考虑到一年中各月天数的差异，采用均匀分布的方式计算了预期的出生和发病情况。
本研究共纳入了 411 例溃疡性结肠炎（UC）患者和 316 例克罗恩病（CD）患者。冬季（尤其是 1 月和 2 月）出生与 IBD 风险增加相关，尤其是 UC 患者。CD 患者的症状发作最频繁发生在春季，秋季达到最低。然而，UC 患者的疾病发作没有明显的季节性。
我们的数据表明，妊娠和产后期间季节性变化的环境因素与日后发生 IBD 的易感性有关，CD 的恶化受季节性因素的影响。
