A new study by Professor Graham Murray has found that Gastrointestinal diseases that involve the Helicobacter pylori infection have a role in inflammation of the GI tract and depression

 

Gastrointestinal (GI) diseases are highly prevalent in western countries they use substantial health care resources, have a heavy societal economic burden and impact the quality of life of those affected. 

 

GI disorders include peptic ulcer disease (PUD), gastro-oesophagal reflux disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and inflammatory bowel disease, and some of these disorders are commonly reported as correlated with each other. Increasingly these disorders pose diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. 

 

In this genome-wide association study (GWAS), Professor Murray and his team used data from the UK Biobank to look at genetic factors for PUD—a common yet complex GI disorder.

 

Their primary focus was to identify genetic susceptibility factors for PUD and other acid-related disorders and investigate the shared genetic architecture between them.

 

Given the increasing evidence for the importance of bidirectional signalling between the brain and the gut they also explored the potential causal relationships between major depression and the four GI disorders using Mendelian randomization.

 

Read the study here>>