Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a highly prevalent functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorder with a major impact not only on the healthcare system but also on the patient’s quality of life. (Epi-) genetic factors contributing to the pathogenesis of IBS have not further been specified and knowledge is still poor. The search for (epi-) genetic factors in IBS is hampered by the fact that only a few groups worldwide have just recently started to perform genetic analyses in small cohorts. Consequently, contradictory results have been reported due to low statistical power. This COST Action will foster the establishment of a pan-European, interdisciplinary network with the major goal being the creation of guidelines for patient / control recruitment as well as phenotypic characterization by defining quantitative traits as intermediate phenotypes for the following identification of genetic factors in the pathogenesis of IBS. This Action will represent a solid basis for novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches and will significantly improve the insight into IBS pathophysiology, and, hence, help identify new targets for treatment with the ultimate goal of increasing quality of life of affected patients.
irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) - genetics/epigenetics - microbiome - phenotyping - biobanking
