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Environmental Triggers for IBD

  • Inflammatory Bowel Disease (S Hanauer, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

The fundamental elucidation of how environmental influences provoke the initiation of disease as well as flares of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remains incomplete. The current understanding of these diseases suggests that ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) result from poorly defined interactions between genetic and environmental factors which culminate in the pathologic effects and clinical manifestations of these diseases. The genetic variant appears not sufficient itself to lead to the development of the clinical disease, but likely must combine with the environmental factors. The intestinal microbiome is pivotal to IBD development. A greater understanding of the contribution of these factors to dysbiosis is critical, and we aspire to restoring a healthy microbiome to treat flares and ideally prevent the development of IBD and its complications. This article aims to place the environmental influences in the context of their potential contribution to the development of the pathophysiology of IBD.

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Conflict of Interest

Aoibhliin O’Toole declares no conflict of interest. Joshua Korzenik has served as an IBD consultant for Abbvie, Empiramed, Pfizer, Vithera, Prometheus, and Janssen; he has received research/grant support from Abbvie, and Warner-Chilcott and has served as a member of the Data Safety Monitoring Board for Roche.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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  1. BWH Crohn’s and Colitis Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Aoibhlinn O’Toole & Joshua Korzenik

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  1. Aoibhlinn O’Toole
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  2. Joshua Korzenik
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Correspondence to Joshua Korzenik.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Inflammatory Bowel Disease

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O’Toole, A., Korzenik, J. Environmental Triggers for IBD. Curr Gastroenterol Rep 16, 396 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11894-014-0396-y

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