The latest breakthrough on genetic characteristics of inflammatory bowel disease in Chinese and other East Asian ancestries.

Abstract

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are complex chronic disorders of the gastrointestinal tract with the following two subtypes: Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Disease presentation and progression within and across IBDs, especially Crohn's disease, are highly heterogeneous in the location, severity of inflammation, intestinal stenosis and obstruction, and extraintestinal manifestations. Clinical classifications fail to accurately predict the disease course and response to therapies. To date, most IBD genetic associations are derived from individuals of European ancestries, leading to a limitation of the discovery and application of IBD genetics in the rest of the world populations. In this mini-review, we summarize the latest progress of genome-wide association studies of IBD across global ancestries especially the Chinese population, the similarities and differences in genetic architecture between European and East Asian ancestries, as well as, the clinical significances relevant to IBD genetic study.