Genome-microbiome interplay in inflammatory bowel disease

Access to EGA study: EGAS00001001704 / Lifelines-DEEP

The gut microbiome has been implicated in a variety of physiological states including inflammatory bowel disease(IBD), but controversy over causality remains unresolved. Here, we aim to perform bidirectional Mendelian randomization analyses on IBD patients with whole-genome, whole-metagenome, anthropometric and blood metabolic trait data to identify causal relationships between the gut microbiome and blood metabolites. This study will illustrate the value of human genetic information to help prioritize gut microbial features for mechanistic and clinical studies in IBD.

As an associated professor, I have been focused on the study of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) for more than 10 years. The IBD center of First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University is so far the largest in China with regular follow-up of more than 10,000 patients.