BACKGROUND IL12B encodes the p40 subunit of IL-12, which is also part of IL-23. Recent genome-wide association studies identified IL12B and IL23R as susceptibility genes for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, the phenotypic effects and potential gene-gene interactions of IL12B variants are largely unknown. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We analyzed IL12B gene variants regarding associ...

Multipoint linkage analysis of quantitative-trait loci (QTLs) has previously been restricted to sibships and small pedigrees. In this article, we show how variance-component linkage methods can be used in pedigrees of arbitrary size and complexity, and we develop a general framework for multipoint identity-by-descent (IBD) probability calculations. We extend the sib-pair multipoint mapping appr...

BACKGROUND Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are characterized by chronic relapsing inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract and encompass Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. IBD are often associated with extraintestinal manifestations affecting multiple organs including the liver. Increased levels of serum aminotransferases, possibly related to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, constitut...

Background: Miscarriage is a common phenomenon complicating more than half of pregnancies. Recurrent Pregnancy Loss (RPL) is defined as three or more pregnancies lost before the twentieth week of gestation. It is believed that abnormality in maternal immune reaction to fetus and sharing of HLA antigens might be associated with RPL. Objective: To investigate the effect of HLA-DRB1 sharing betwee...

BACKGROUND The thiopurine drugs azathioprine and 6-mercaptopurine are well established in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, great interpatient variability exists in the efficacy and toxicity of the drugs, and this results from thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) gene polymorphisms. The aim of this study was to identify the TPMT gene polymorphisms in Chinese IBD patient...

the prevalence of inflammatory bowel diseases (ibds) is set to stabilize in western europe and north america, as opposed to its increasing trend in developing countries in asia. the epidemiology of ibds in areas where the incidence and prevalence are relatively low provides an opportunity for researchers to determine the unknown aspects of them. in this review article, the pubmed and medline da...

inflammatory bowel disease (ibd) is a chronic disease of unknown etiology, in which genetic factors, seem to play an important role in the disease predisposition and course. assessment of tumor necrosis factor (tnf-α) gene polymorphisms in many populations showed a possible association with ibd. considering the genetic variety in different ethnic groups, the aim of the present study was to inve...

Random Forest is a prediction technique based on growing trees on bootstrap samples of data, in conjunction with a random selection of explanatory variables to define the best split at each node. In the case of a quantitative outcome, the tree predictor takes on a numerical value. We applied Random Forest to the first replicate of the Genetic Analysis Workshop 13 simulated data set, with the si...

BACKGROUND Interleukin 1beta (IL-1beta) and its natural antagonist have been implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Both cytokines influence bone formation. IL-1beta stimulates osteoclast activity while interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) enhances bone formation. AIMS To determine whether the decreased bone mass in IBD is related to gene polymorphisms codin...

Background—Interleukin 1â (IL-1â) and its natural antagonist have been implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Both cytokines influence bone formation. IL-1â stimulates osteoclast activity while interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) enhances bone formation. Aims—To determine whether the decreased bone mass in IBD is related to gene polymorphisms coding for IL-1â...