{"id":60049,"date":"2018-03-14T17:00:43","date_gmt":"2018-03-14T15:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=60049"},"modified":"2018-03-05T08:54:29","modified_gmt":"2018-03-05T06:54:29","slug":"14-00-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=60049","title":{"rendered":"Crohn\u2019s gene mutation identified in multinational study"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.israel21c.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.israel21c.org\/wp-content\/themes\/rgb\/images\/israel21c270-64px.png\" alt=\"Israel21c\" width=\"30%\" \/><\/a><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #000080;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.israel21c.org\/crohns-gene-mutation-identified-in-multinational-study\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Crohn\u2019s gene mutation identified in multinational study<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>ISRAEL21c Staff<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"background: #d0e6fa; width: 710px; height: 15px;\" \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Researchers surprised to discover that the same mutation has already been pinpointed as a factor in Parkinson\u2019s disease risk.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.israel21c.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/shutterstock_mutation-1168x657.jpg\" width=\"100%\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>Image of DNA by Double Brain\/Shutterstock.com<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u00a0A major international research group \u2014 including scientists from Israel\u2019s Hebrew University of Jerusalem and University of Haifa \u2014 has discovered a genetic mutation associated with Crohn\u2019s disease, an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that affects between three and 14 people out of every 100,000 in any given year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The study, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, shows that people who carry the mutation in the LRRK2 gene are at high risk of developing the disease.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Surprisingly, this mutation has already been identified in the past as a factor increasing the risk of developing Parkinson\u2019s disease.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Prof. Gil Atzmon of the University of Haifa, one of the partners in the study, explains: \u201cThe practical significance is that we can already identify carriers of the gene at a young age and recognize that they are in a risk group and need constant monitoring and adjustment of lifestyle in the hope to lower the chance of disease outbreak.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.israel21c.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Gil-Atzmon.jpg\" width=\"35%\" \/><em><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Prof. <strong>Gil Atzmon<\/strong>. Photo courtesy of the University of Haifa<\/span>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Crohn\u2019s is particularly prevalent in two main age groups: 15 to 30 years and 60 to 80 years. The reasons for the development of the disease remain unclear, but may involve a combination of environmental, genetic and immune factors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cThe 1.6 million Americans who suffer from IBD have long been searching for answers when it comes to the painful and confounding conditions that afflict them, including Crohn\u2019s disease,\u201d said Karen Berman, CEO of American Society of the University of Haifa.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The study involving some 50 researchers from Israel, the United States, Canada and the UK sought to examine whether any mutations of specific genes are more common among Crohn\u2019s patients. The initial examination related to 5,700 people of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, including both Crohn\u2019s patients and those without the disease.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Atzmon explains that the genetic affinity among Ashkenazi Jews makes them a kind of \u201cfamily\u201d in genetic terms, thereby facilitating the identification of a clear association between gene mutations and the expression of the disease.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Moreover, Crohn\u2019s disease is particularly prevalent among Ashkenazi Jews, and they are the ideal group to study the impact of genetic changes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">After the findings were obtained, the researchers examined the genetic association among a much larger group of some 25,000 subjects from around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The findings showed that a specific mutation in the LRRK2 gene creates a statistically significant distinction between those with and without Crohn\u2019s disease. The mutation is almost twice as prevalent among patients as among people without Crohn\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Atzmon suggests that since the mutation leads to functional changes in the coded protein, the probability that a carrier of the mutation will develop the disease is particularly high.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Connection between Crohn\u2019s and Parkinson\u2019s<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The finding that the same mutation also increases the probability of developing Parkinson\u2019s was unexpected, according to Atzmon, since to date researchers have not identified any similar or associated mechanisms involved in Crohn\u2019s, a bowel disease, and Parkinson\u2019s, a degenerative brain disease.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cOne possibility is that there is no connection, and that this gene is responsible for different and unrelated functions in the body. Another possibility we examined is that the enhanced expression of an area in this gene encourages phosphorylation, influencing a cascade of events each of which leads in turn to the outbreak of either or both of these diseases,\u201d said Atzmon.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The significance of the new finding is that it will be possible to use a relatively simple genetic test at a very young age to determine whether someone is a carrier of this genetic mutation. If they are, medical monitoring will enable intervention in the early stages of the development of Crohn\u2019s disease.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Even more importantly, carriers will have the opportunity to adjust their lifestyle habits in order to reduce drastically the chance of an outbreak of Crohn\u2019s \u2013 for example, by quitting smoking (or not starting to smoke), trying to reduce stress and emotional anguish, avoiding processed industrial food, and so forth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cIn the longer term,\u201d Atzmon concluded, \u201cthe development of a drug that can respond both to the risk of Crohn\u2019s and the risk of Parkinson\u2019s could be a real breakthrough that will be beneficial for large numbers of people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The other Israeli researcher in the study was Shai Carmi of the Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"background: #d0e6fa; width: 710px; height: 15px;\" \/>\n<div id=\"content\" class=\" content-alignment&lt;br \/&gt;&lt;br \/&gt; \">\n<div id=\"watch-description\" class=\"yt-uix-button-panel\">\n<div id=\"watch-description-text\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p><em>Zawarto\u015b\u0107 publikowanych artyku\u0142\u00f3w i materia\u0142\u00f3w nie reprezentuje pogl\u0105d\u00f3w ani opinii Reunion&#8217;68,<\/em><em><br \/>\nani te\u017c webmastera Blogu Reunion&#8217;68, chyba ze jest to wyra\u017anie zaznaczone.<br \/>\nTwoje uwagi, linki, w\u0142asne artyku\u0142y lub wiadomo\u015bci prze\u015blij na adres:<br \/>\n<\/em><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong><em><a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"mailto:webmaster@reunion68.com\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">webmaster@reunion68.com<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr style=\"width: 710px;\" \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Crohn\u2019s gene mutation identified in multinational study ISRAEL21c Staff Researchers surprised to discover that the same mutation has already been pinpointed as a factor in Parkinson\u2019s disease risk. Image of DNA by Double Brain\/Shutterstock.com \u00a0A major international research group \u2014 including scientists from Israel\u2019s Hebrew University of Jerusalem and University of Haifa \u2014 has discovered [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60049"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60049"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60065,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60049\/revisions\/60065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}