title: Association of Crohn's disease and multiple sclerosis. Is there a common background?
abstract: Crohn's disease (CD) and multiple sclerosis (MS) share familial occurrence and similar epidemiological traits. Apart from one report of both diseases occurring among consanguineous relatives, only three cases of CD and MS in the same patient have thus far been described. We describe here a 29-year-old woman in whom MS developed in 1983 and CD in 1989. The MS may have been the result of a strongly HLA-associated genetic predisposition, while the additional development of CD may have been due either to genetic factors or perhaps simply to chance. Viewing this case in the context of epidemiological data, however, we suggest that the development of CD and MS is based on one or more common genetic factors acting in conjunction with other presumably exogenous factors and triggering HLA antigens to lead to one disease or the other.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Düsseldorf, F.R.G.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Purrmann
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Arendt
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cleveland
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Borchard
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fürst
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gemsa
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bertrams
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Hengels
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D005819:Genetic Markers / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D012307:Risk Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers