The researchers found a relationship between endometriosis and a variety of gastrointestinal diseases. So we were able to use a range of statistical approaches to compare those risk variants to see which ones were common between the diseases,” she explained. “We had information of millions of variants, or genetic variants across the genome, ones that were associated with endometriosis, and ones that were associated with the gastrointestinal disorders. One author, Dr Sally Mortlock from the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland, told InSight+ that they used large-scale multifaceted data including observational, genetic, and pharmaceutical datasets.

“Shared genetic loci may contribute to risk of both endometriosis and digestive disorders through the involvement of DNA damage, estrogen regulated cell-proliferation and inflammation, and barrier dysfunction,” the authors wrote. This, yet to be peer reviewed, Australian study has found a genetic link between endometriosis and digestive disorders. Now a preprint paper published on medRxiv has potentially found out why. Recent studies have confirmed that women with endometriosis have a higher risk of IBS than women without. IN clinical practice, endometriosis and gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome commonly coexist.

Endometriosis and ibs