In this issue of the Journal, Glocker et al.1 provide the firstsubstantial support for a functional role for the immunosuppressivecytokine interleukin-10 in the pathogenesis of inflammatorybowel disease in humans. By performing genetic-linkage and candidate-geneanalysis of two unrelated consanguineous families with childrenwho have a severe, progressive, poorly treatable form of Crohn'sdisease that occurs in the first year of life, the investigatorsidentified homozygous, recessive loss-of-function mutationsin the interleukin-10 receptor genes, IL10RA and IL10RB, whichmost likely contributed to the patients' disease. A third distinctmutation in IL10RA was found in an unrelated patient. . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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From the Laboratory of Molecular Immunology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD.
This article (10.1056/NEJMe0909225) was published on November 4, 2009, at NEJM.org.
This article has been cited by other articles:
(2009). Interleukin-10 Receptor Mutations and Severe Inflammatory Bowel Disease. JWatch Gastroenterology
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