Research out of Solna, Sweden-based Karolinska Institutet claims to have found a link to irritable bowel syndrome in certain DNA variants.
Here's what you should know.
1. The findings were published in Gastroenterology.
2. Researchers used genotype data from 300,000-plus U.K. Biobank participants in a genome-wide association study.
3. They found DNA variants were associated with an increased risk of IBS in women, but not men. The variants were found specifically on a region of chromosome 9.
4. The researchers then built off those results by examining the DNA of 2,045 patients from IBS centers in Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and the U.S. Researchers discovered an increased association with IBS with constipation as well as harder stools in women.
5. Mauro D'Amato, PhD, a visiting professor at Karolinska Institutet's Department of Medicine, said, "Although we cannot point to individual genes at this early stage, we believe these results are exciting, as they converge with existing data on female preponderance and a role of sex-hormones in IBS."