WEDNESDAY, Feb. 18, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Hispanic patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have varying disease patterns depending on their genetic ancestry, according to a study published online Feb. 9 in Gastroenterology.
Ashley H. Beecham, Ph.D., from the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and colleagues examined the ancestral heterogeneity of IBD clinical phenotypes in Hispanic participants (1,660 IBD cases and 5,614 controls). An ancestry-informed genome-wide (GW) association study for IBD, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn disease (CD) was conducted to obtain ancestry-specific effect size estimates for alleles from distinct ancestries.
The researchers observed an association for clinical phenotypes with higher African (AFR; colonic, penetrating, or perianal CD; later age at diagnosis; IBD-related surgery) or Amerindian (AIAN) ancestry (colonic CD). Within established loci for CD (NOD2, IL23R, HLA-DRA) and ulcerative colitis (HLA locus), GW European-specific associations were observed. Novel GW associations were seen in 14 loci for AFR or AIAN alleles. In All of Us, one AFR-specific IBD GW (PCGEM1) and two AFR-specific suggestive (TYROBP/LRFN3) associations were replicated. Transferability was demonstrated in several suggestive associations (AFR-specific TYROBP/LRFN3 and AIAN-specific GAD2). Association with clinical phenotypes was also demonstrated for several novel IBD risk variants.
"Among Hispanic patients, higher African ancestry was associated with more severe Crohn's disease throughout the digestive tract, while higher Amerindian ancestry was linked to disease affecting primarily the colon," coauthor Talin Haritunians, Ph.D., also from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said in a statement.
Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.