Karatzas Pantelis S, Gazouli Maria, Safioleas Michael, Mantzaris Gerasimos J
1st Department of Gastroenterology, Evangelismos General Hospital (Pantelis S. Karatzas, Gerasimos J. Mantzaris).
Department of Basic Medical Science, Laboratory of Biology, School of Medicine, University of Athens (Maria Gazouli).
Ann Gastroenterol. 2014;27(2):125-132.
The cause of inflammatory bowel disease, encompassing Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, remains a mystery but evidence is accumulating that complex interactions between the genetic background and the gut microbiota of the host and environmental factors associated with rapid industrialization and westernized life styles may underlie its pathogenesis. Recent epigenetic studies have suggested that interactions between environment and host DNA may play a leading role in the phenotypical expression of both diseases, explaining amongst others the differences in disease expression in monozygotic twins. DNA methylation is the most studied epigenetic modification and during the last decade its correlation to IBD pathogenesis has been well established. Genes from different molecular pathways have been studied but till now there is no standardized database of methylated genes in IBD. Thus, a thorough and in depth study of DNA methylation, its potential relation to IBD and its interaction with the available pharmaceutical armamentarium is of great interest.
炎症性肠病包括克罗恩病和溃疡性结肠炎，其病因仍是个谜，但越来越多的证据表明，宿主的遗传背景与肠道微生物群之间的复杂相互作用以及与快速工业化和西化生活方式相关的环境因素可能是其发病机制的基础。最近的表观遗传学研究表明，环境与宿主DNA之间的相互作用可能在这两种疾病的表型表达中起主导作用，这在一定程度上解释了同卵双胞胎疾病表现的差异。DNA甲基化是研究最多的表观遗传修饰，在过去十年中，其与炎症性肠病发病机制的相关性已得到充分证实。来自不同分子途径的基因已被研究，但到目前为止，还没有炎症性肠病甲基化基因的标准化数据库。因此，对DNA甲基化、其与炎症性肠病的潜在关系及其与现有药物治疗手段的相互作用进行全面深入的研究具有重要意义。
