Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) comprising ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) is multigenic disorder. Tremendous progress has been achieved in unravelling the genetic background of IBD. It has led to the discovery of mutations in NOD2 associated with ileal CD and numerous other genes have been found to be associated with IBD susceptibility.
Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Section Medical Biology, University Medical Center Groningen and University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. r.k.weersma@int.umcg.nl
