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The National Australian & New Zealand IBD Family Register Research Project |
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Understanding the causes of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and developing more effective forms of therapy are two of the greatest challenges facing contemporary gastroenterology. While the cause of IBD remains unknown, the latest evidence supports genetic factors as being crucial. The objective of the Australian and NZ IBD Family Register project is to collect information and DNA from families in whom multiple individuals have been diagnosed as suffering from one of the forms of IBD. Subsequent research aims to identify causative genes for IBD, then to understand how these genes influence disease processes at the cellular level: the ultimate goal is to prevent or cure these conditions. There may be the added benefit of providing better diagnostic tests. This effort involves collaborations at both the national and the international level. Our work in the Gastroenterology Unit at the Canberra Hospital has confirmed the existence of a chromosome 16 susceptibility gene. This localisation has been confirmed in European, English and American populations. In addition, understanding its normal function as well as the misfunctioning that leads to disease is vital. We are currently working on the identification of the gene on chromosome 16 and hope that we will have exciting news in the near future. There is evidence that it plays a greater role in Australian families than in other populations and we hypothesize that there is an environmental trigger present in Australia that selects for this gene. An exciting development in the register has been the inclusion of a number of New Zealand families with whom we have made contact through the New Zealand Crohn's and Colitis Support Group. This development adds extra 'power' to our ability to detect the genes involved in IBD not only because it increases the number of families we are studying, but also because there may be links between families on both sides of the Tasman. Very large families in which there are many affected individuals are an important resource when fine scale disease gene mapping is embarked upon. Another very exciting development has been the establishment of an international consortium of geneticists and gastroenterologists who are working on IBD. The nine leading groups from around the world meet annually for a workshop in which they discuss results and proposed various strategies for collaboration. There were a number of differences reported between populations, highlighting the need for studies to continue at the individual population level. On the other hand, the complexity of these disorders, particularly the emerging hypothesis that there may be as many as five interacting causative genes on different chromosomes, demonstrates that collaborative studies are critical. These advances highlight the importance of the continued cooperation of the more than 260 Australian and New Zealand families who are participating in the project.
The Auckland CCSG is coordinating the New Zealand component of this project. If you are resident in New Zealand and have more than one family member with either Crohn's disease and/or ulcerative colitis then we would like to hear from you. You will be required to fill in and sign a consent form and a questionnaire about your family members. These are returned to the Auckland CCSG for delivery to the researchers in Canberra, Australia. Participation in the study ideally involves every member of the extended family providing a blood sample (at no cost) for the purposes of the genetic research. Please contact the Auckland CCSG if you would like to participate and the information pack and relevant forms will be sent to you.
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