This book reaches out to a wide variety of professionals in the biomedical field with an interest in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Enormous progress has been made in the last few years since the publication of the first edition in the study of complex diseases and IBD, with hundreds of genomic regions identified that are associated with increased risk. Authored by leading clinical and research scientists in the field, the book includes state-of-the art synopses of recent genetic findings, and their interpretation for current and future exploitation in translational approaches to personalized medicine in IBD. The book also covers risk prediction, improved diagnostic and therapeutic precision, dissection of disease phenotypes and subtypes, identification of biomarkers, and host gene-microbiota interactions of clinical relevance.

Part 1: The Foundation of IBD Genetics, Human and Animal Studies

A Primer on IBD: Phenotypes, Diagnosis, Treatment and Clinical Challenges
Genetic Epidemiology of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Early Twin and Family Studies
Insights from Recent Advances in Animal Models of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Part Two: The Genetic and Molecular Makeup of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Complex Disease Genes and their Discovery
The Genetics of Crohn's Disease
Genetics of Ulcerative Colitis
Genetic Overlap between Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Other Diseases
Molecular Profiling of IBD Subtypes/Response to Therapy
Epigenetics of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Part 3: Pathogenetic Pathways in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Nod1 and Nod2 and the Immune Response to Bacteria
The IL-23-Th17 Axis in Intestinal Inflammation
Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the Intersection of Autophagy and Immunity: Insights from Human Genetics
The Epithelial Barrier
Host Interactions with Bacteria: From "Entente Cordiale" to "Casus Belli"
Cytokines in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Part 4: Concluding Remarks and Future Perspectives
Towards Personalized Therapy in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Index.