Gastroenterology

Biography

Biography: Abigail Basson

Abstract

Over recent years, the paradigm of the ‘hygiene hypothesis’ has gained wide attention as computerized DNA sequencing technologies revolutionize how we view the human microbiome. We performed a case control study of all consecutive Crohn’s disease (CD) patients seen at 2 large inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) referral centers in the Western Cape, South Africa between September 2011 and January 2013. Numerous environmental exposures during three age intervals; 0-5, 6-10 and 11-18 years were extracted using an investigator-administered questionnaire. One year later, participants completed questionnaire for a second time, in order to measure the agreement between repeated data, using a kappa statistic (κ=0.60-0.99). On multiple Logistic regression analysis, individuals who did not consume raw beef during childhood, did not consume unpasteurized milk those who never had a donkey, horse, cow or sheep living permanently on the property, those whose primary water source was bottled or tap water, as well as those exposed to passive cigarette smoke during childhood, were significantly more likely to develop future CD. However, the inconsistencies between each age interval with regard to the identified risk factors suggest that their effect on the development of immune structures varies according to timing and extent of exposure, although this outcome may be influenced by CD susceptibility mutations. Significant differences in CD susceptibility genotype have been observed between the white, colored and black ethnicities in South Africa. When evaluating the interaction with ethnicity, the passive smoke risk-association exposure maintained significance for colored CD subjects, but not for their white counterparts.