Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common condition with a complex and largely unknown etiology. There is no cure, and treatment options are mainly directed to the amelioration of symptoms. IBS causes reduced quality of life and poses considerable repercussions on health and socioeconomic systems. There is a heritable component in IBS, and genetic research is a valuable tool for the identification of causative pathways, which will provide important insight into the pathophysiology. However, although some gene-hunting efforts have been conducted and a few risk genes proposed, IBS genetic research is lagging behind compared to other complex diseases. In this mini-review, we briefly summarize existing genetic studies, discuss the main challenges in IBS genetic research, and propose strategies to overcome these challenges for IBS gene discovery.

中文翻译：

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肠易激综合征的遗传学

肠易激综合征 (IBS) 是一种常见疾病，其病因复杂且很大程度上未知。没有治愈方法，治疗选择主要针对症状的改善。IBS 会导致生活质量下降，并对健康和社会经济系统造成相当大的影响。IBS 中有一个可遗传的成分，基因研究是鉴定致病途径的宝贵工具，这将为病理生理学提供重要的见解。然而，尽管已经进行了一些基因搜寻工作并提出了一些风险基因，但与其他复杂疾病相比，IBS 基因研究仍然落后。在这篇小型综述中，我们简要总结了现有的遗传研究，讨论了 IBS 遗传研究的主要挑战，并提出了克服 IBS 基因发现挑战的策略。