Legaki E, Gazouli M. Influence of environmental factors in the development of inflammatory bowel diseases. World J Gastrointest Pharmacol Ther 2016; 7(1): 112-125 [PMID: 26855817 DOI: 10.4292/wjgpt.v7.i1.112]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Maria Gazouli, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Laboratory of Biology, School of Medicine, University of Athens, Michalakopoulou 176, 11527 Athens, Greece. mgazouli@med.uoa.gr
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastrointest Pharmacol Ther. Feb 6, 2016; 7(1): 112-125 Published online Feb 6, 2016. doi: 10.4292/wjgpt.v7.i1.112
Influence of environmental factors in the development of inflammatory bowel diseases
Evangelia Legaki, Maria Gazouli
Evangelia Legaki, Maria Gazouli, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Laboratory of Biology, School of Medicine, University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
Author contributions: Legaki E performed all the literature searching and wrote the manuscript; Gazouli M designed, wrote and edited the manuscript.
Supported by The Hellenic State Scholarships Foundation to Legaki E.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No conflict of interest to state.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Maria Gazouli, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Laboratory of Biology, School of Medicine, University of Athens, Michalakopoulou 176, 11527 Athens, Greece. mgazouli@med.uoa.gr
Telephone: +30-210-7462231 Fax: +30-210-7462231
Received: May 28, 2015 Peer-review started: June 1, 2015 First decision: October 14, 2015 Revised: October 20, 2015 Accepted: December 3, 2015 Article in press: December 4, 2015 Published online: February 6, 2016
Core Tip
Core tip: Epidemiological data, clinical observations and family/ immigrants studies indicate the significance of environmental influence in the development of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). A westernized high fat diet, full of refined carbohydrates is strongly associated with the development of IBD, contrary to a high in fruit, vegetables and polyunsaturated fatty acid-3 diet that is protective against these diseases. Additional factors such as air pollution, psychological factors, sleep disturbances and exercise influence the development and the course of IBD. Epigenetic mechanism like DNA methylation, histone modification and altered expression of miRNAS could explain the connection between genes and environmental factors in triggering the development of IBD.
