Risk factors and gene polymorphisms of inflammatory bowel disease in population of Zhejiang, China

Aim: To identify the risk factors and three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of NOD2/CARD15 gene in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) of the population in Zhejiang, China.

Methods: A case-control study was conducted using recall questionnaire to collect data on demographic, socioeconomic, lifestyle characteristics and dietary behaviors from 136 determined IBD patients and 136 paired healthy controls. COX regression method was used to screen the statistically significant risk factors for IBD. The polymorphisms of NOD2/CARD15 gene Arg702Trp, Gly908Arg and Leu1007fsinsC were genotyped and further compared between 60 patients with IBD and 60 healthy controls by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism.

Results: IBD occurred primarily in young and middle-aged people. The mean age for IBD patients was 42.6 years. The ratio of males to females was 1.23:1. COX regression indicated a higher statistical significance in milk, fried food and stress compared with the other postulated risk factors for IBD. None of the patients with IBD and healthy controls had heterozygous or homozygous SNPs variants.

Conclusion: Milk, fried food and stress are associated with increased risk of IBD. The common variants in NOD2/CARD15 gene are not associated with IBD in China's Zhejiang population.