The Role of Ethnicity in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammation of the digestive tract which consists of ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. The disease is previously recognized as a disease of Western countries but later it spreads all over the world across every ethnicity. The disease manifestations vary from intestinal to extra-intestinal manifestations. There are two risk factors related to the incidence of IBD: Internal and environmental factors. The internal factor is related to genetic susceptibility and genetic susceptibility is associated with ethnicity. Subject from Black ethnic has higher risk for suffering from IBD. Caucasians even have the lowest incidence compared to other ethnics. The disease course is also worse in Black and Hispanic ethnics. Asians have milder disease course. Immigrants tend to have higher risk for IBD compared to native subjects. Further investigations showed that ethnicity carries variable genetic characteristics which affect immune activity, intestinal barrier integrity, and autophagy. All the above mentioned will elicit inflammation if being unbalanced. Chronic inflammation particularly in digestive tract leads to IBD. Knowledge regarding the tendency of IBD in several ethnics raises awareness and will initiate earlier preventive measure against IBD.