Genetic link found between spinal arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease
Researchers at the University of Queensland Diamantina Institute in Brisbane, Australia, have found that a form of spinal arthritis is genetically linked to Inflammatory Bowel Disease. The study will be published on December 2 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics. Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) is a common form of arthritis involving chronic inflammation particularly of the spinal and pelvic joints, which causes pain, stiffness, and often disability. Affecting up to 0.5% of the population, the risk of AS is almost entirely genetically determined. Curiously, AS patients appear to be highly susceptible to Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), including Crohn's disease. Similarly, the development of AS is common in IBD patients. Professor Matt Brown and his colleagues wanted to determine if this was more than a coincidence...