title: IL23R and ATG16L1 variants in Moroccan patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Although their pathogenesis is unclear, the combination of genetic predisposition and environmental components are believed to be the main cause of these diseases. Recently, many variants in interleukin 23 receptor (IL23R) and autophagy-related 16-like 1 (ATG16L1) genes have been associated with the disease. Our objective was to assess the frequency of ATG16L1 (T300A) and IL23R (L310P) variants in Moroccan IBD (Crohn's disease and Ulcerative Colitis) patients and to evaluate a possible effect of these variants on disease's phenotype and clinical course.
  
  
  METHODS
  96 Moroccan IBD patients and 114 unrelated volunteers were genotyped for ATG16L1 (T300A) and IL23R (L310P) variants by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This is the first report on the prevalence of ATG16L1 (T300A) and IL23R (L310P) variants in a Moroccan group. We found that IL23R (L310P) variant conferred a protective effect for crohn's disease (CD) but not ulcerative colitis (UC) patients. The presence of ATG16L1 (T300A) mutated alleles was associated with CD type but not with disease onset. In addition, the carriage of T300A variant alleles conferred a protective effect in UC.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results showed that the prevalence of ATG16L1 and IL23R variants was not significantly different between patients and controls. However a possible role of ATG16L1 (T300A) on CD phenotype was suggested.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Medical Genetics- Medical school of Casablanca, Faculté de Médecine et de Pharmacie de Casablanca, 19, rue Tarik ibn ziad, Casablanca, Morocco. nadiaserbati@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Serbati
authors.forename: Nezha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Senhaji
authors.forename: Brehima
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Diakite
authors.forename: Wafaa
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Badre
authors.forename: Sellama
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nadifi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000071183:Autophagy-Related Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D009018:Morocco; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D018123:Receptors, Interleukin / Q000235:genetics*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: C518959:ATG16L1 protein, human; D000071183:Autophagy-Related Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; C515500:IL23R protein, human; D018123:Receptors, Interleukin