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‘Getting closer’: Genetic risk scores may help predict inflammatory bowel disease severity
This research suggests genetic risk scores could help identify people with IBD who are more likely to have severe disease, which might eventually inform earlier monitoring or treatment decisions. It’s a step toward more personalized care, but not a change to current treatment guidelines yet.
Adults with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, clinicians who treat IBD, researchers studying genetics or biomarkers for IBD, and people newly diagnosed who are interested in prognosis research.
What To Know
Higher polygenic (genetic) risk scores were associated with more severe disease outcomes in a Danish cohort of >8,200 people with IBD, including higher rates of hospitalization and major surgery.
The study linked higher PGS to higher fecal calprotectin and lower hemoglobin at diagnosis, and to greater use of treatments such as biologics, immunomodulators and systemic corticosteroids. This appears to be a report summarizing a Gastroenterology study (Vestergaard et al.) and includes commentary from senior author Tine Jess.
The finding suggests polygenic scores for disease development may also help predict disease trajectory but are not yet a standalone clinical tool.
If you read the original paper, look for details about how the PGS was calculated, the age distribution (study cohort was relatively young), and how outcomes were defined—those affect how broadly the results apply.
The study used Danish cohorts with genetic data and prospective follow-up; authors note the cohort’s relatively young age and that genetics is only one part of disease prediction. Future precision-medicine tools will likely combine genetics with other clinical and biomarker data. This Healio article summarizes the Gastroenterology paper rather than presenting new trial results.
