A new collaborative international genetic study led by Prof. Mauro D’Amato from the CIC bioGUNE in Spain and LUM University in Italy, with contributions from the research group of Dr. Serena Sanna at CNR‑IRGB, has identified genetic factors that link irritable bowel syndrome to lipid metabolism and triglyceride regulation.

The study was  Published in Gut, the research analysed data from more than 2 million individuals of individuals across 22 studies worldwide.

The findings identified 35 regions of the human genome linked to IBS that point to genes acting in the brain and enteric nervous system (the network of nerves controlling the gut), but also and unexpectedly, to genes involved in the regulation of cardiometabolic traits such as triglycerides.

The findings extend current understanding of IBS beyond the traditional gut-brain axis.

The research is part of the “bellygene initiative” coordinated by Prof. Mauro D’amato, a large international collaboration involving academic and clinical, partners across

Europe, North America and other regions, and drawing on data from several cohorts and major population-based biobanks including UK Biobank, FinnGen, the Million Veteran Program, All of Us and many others.

The research was supported by multiple individual grants including, among many others, MCIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and ERDF/EU (PID2023-148957OB-I00); PRIN2022/NextGenerationEU (2022PMZKEC); The All of Us Research Program and the National Institutes of Health; the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; the Estonian Research Council; the Wellcome; the Medical Research Council; the British Heart Foundation; the Scottish Government Health Directorates and the Scottish Funding Council; the Wellcome Trust; Endeavor Health; the Research Council of Norway; the Stiftelsen Kristian Gerhard Jebsen; the NWO Gravitation grant ExposomeNL; Mayo Clinic Biobank; European Union’s Horizon 2020 program; the Million Veteran Program.

LINK to more extended press release: here

LINK to original article: Di Lorenzo B, Camargo Tavares L, Díaz-Muñoz C, et al. Cross-definition GWAS of irritable bowel syndrome in 2.8 million individuals reveals cardiometabolic and triglyceride-linked mechanisms. Gut. DOI: 10.1136/gutjnl-2026-338800

USEFUL LINKS:

Link to the PRIN2022/NextGenerationEU (2022PMZKEC) project who partially funded the study:

https://irgb.cnr.it/projects/prin-2022/

DISCLAIMER: Illustrative Figure Created with Biorender – license Sannalab