Going by the findings of two extensive studies by researchers from the UK IBD Genetics Consortium and the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, the two of the main inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) - ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease – have a genetic component.

The studies, published in the latest edition of the journal Nature Genetics, substantiate the role that genetic defects play in the epithelium - the layer of cells which contour the gut. As per the researchers, epithelium defects allow the digestive-system-aiding bacteria to leak into the intestinal wall, thereby triggering an immune reaction that causes prolonged inflammation.

Both ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease are chronic and incapacitating conditions that generally need expensive and potentially-toxic drug treatments or surgery; and, over the long term, can result in increased chances of colorectal cancer.

While the earlier researches have pinpointed nearly seven genes that affect a person’s vulnerability to ulcerative colitis and two genetic regions associated with the childhood-onset IBD, the latest studies have further identified three and five genetic regions respectively in the two mentioned ailments, which together affect one in every 250 people.

Noting that genetic defect in epithelial barrier has long been suspected to have a role in ulcerative colitis, researcher Dr Miles Parkes, Consultant Gastroenterologist at Cambridge’s Addenbrooke’s Hospital, said the comprehensive studies “provide the first robust genetic evidence that this is the case.”