Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien·2011
Area of Science:
Genetics and Immunology
Gastroenterology
Background:
Familial predisposition to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn's disease, is recognized.
Previous research suggests a potential link between IBD susceptibility and the Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) gene locus.
Observation:
A family with five children was studied, with at least four exhibiting Crohn's disease.
HLA typing was performed on four affected siblings.
Findings:
Three siblings shared identical paternal (A2, B44) and maternal (A30, B17) haplotypes.
Three of the four siblings were HLA identical.
Analysis of this family and four literature studies showed a trend towards shared HLA haplotypes in affected siblings, but it lacked statistical significance.
Implications:
The study suggests a possible, but not statistically confirmed, association between HLA gene locus and Crohn's disease susceptibility.
Further research is needed to definitively establish the role of HLA genes in familial Crohn's disease.
The presence of lymphocytotoxic antibodies in affected children warrants further investigation.