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World J Gastrointest Pharmacol Ther. Aug 6, 2014; 5(3): 169-174
Published online Aug 6, 2014. doi: 10.4292/wjgpt.v5.i3.169
Inflammatory bowel diseases: Current problems and future tasks
Giovanni C Actis, Rinaldo Pellicano, Floriano Rosina
Giovanni C Actis, Floriano Rosina, Division of Gastro-Hepatology, Ospedale Gradenigo, 10153 Torino, Italy
Rinaldo Pellicano, Division of Gastroenterology, Ospedale San Giovanni Battista, 10126 Torino, Italy
Author contributions: Actis GC designed the study and drafted the paper; Pellicano R drafted the paper and the references; Rosina F participated in designing the study.
Correspondence to: Giovanni C Actis, MD, Division of Gastro-Hepatology, Ospedale Gradenigo, Corso Regina Margherita 8-10, 10153 Torino, Italy. actis_g@libero.it
Telephone: +39-11-8151250 Fax: +39-11-8151250
Received: November 12, 2013
Revised: December 31, 2013
Accepted: May 8, 2014
Published online: August 6, 2014
Core Tip

Core tip: Long after their description, ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease (IBD) are still treated but not cured. This somber spell has now begun to be broken by genetic discoveries and by the study of the human microbiome. The former have uncovered hundreds of genetic variants lending support to the clinical hint that IBD is a syndrome encompassing discrete polymorphisms of the immune response pathways, each requiring a personalized approach. The latter has shown the microbiome to be a cell universe which, if disrupted, can provoke IBD together with a myriad of disturbances apparently unrelated with the gut. A frame of mind seeing the IBDS as embedded into a plethora of genetically linked immune disturbances must fuel IBD research from now on.