Hitch Hiker Ii

U. researchers finger 'hitchhiker' as genetic culprit in bowel disease

"We focused on a single genetic risk factor for Crohn’s disease," Guthery said, quoted in a U. news release. "This risk factor contains several genes, and it is unclear which of these genes cause Crohn’s disease. Our work suggests that one genetic mutation in this region became common in Europeans because it was beneficial, and that neighboring disease-causing genetic changes hitchhiked and became more common."

Along with the spread of agriculture, a genetic variant to the OCTN gene enabled humans to quadruple their absorption of ergothioneine, according to lead author Chad Huff, a U. postdoctoral research fellow in human genetics. It swept through European populations because it gave those with the variant a "2 percent selective advantage," Huff said, meaning carriers would produce 2 percent more offspring than non-carriers.

"We tend to think of adaptive evolution as something that is always beneficial. But rapid adaptation can be inefficient and sometimes even detrimental," he said. "In this case, we think an adaptation to a transient change in diet around 12,000 years ago resulted in a genetic predisposition to Crohn’s disease that is present in about half of all Europeans today."

Only a fraction of a percent of those with this genetic predisposition actually develop symptoms, a lifelong inflammation of the bowels, that afflict an estimated 700,000 Americans.

They discovered that the OCTN mutation was associated with Crohn’s only when it was paired with changes to a nearby gene called IRF1. To confirm their suspicion that IRF was a genetic culprit, the team studied gastrointestinal biopsies of Crohn’s patients and found a 72 percent increase in IRF gene expression compared to those without the disease. Meanwhile, there was no increase in OCTN gene expression.

Crohn’s disease

Scientists suspect genetics predispose people to this inflammatory bowel disorder, suffered by 700,000 Americans, but have yet to pinpoint risk factors and or identify a cause. Typical cases include ulcers in the intestines and symptoms of abdominal pain and diarrhea. New University of Utah research implicates a gene variant that “hitched a ride” with a beneficial mutation that allowed humans to adapt to agricultural diets.

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