E. coli linked to Crohn’s disease

ITHACA, N.Y., Aug. 8 (UPI) -- E. coli bacteria contain genes similar to those associated with intestinal inflammation in patients with Crohn's disease, U.S. researchers have discovered.

A team of Cornell University scientists from the College of Veterinary Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences examined possible causes for the disease in patients with Crohn’s restricted to the ileum and the colon vs. healthy individuals.

The study -- published in The ISME Journal: Multidisciplinary Journal of Microbial Ecology -- found an increased level of E. coli bacteria in more inflamed areas of the small intestines instead of MAP, a bacterium related to tubercle bacillus that has been more commonly associated with Crohn’s.

Crohn’s disease, an incurable inflammatory disorder of the intestine commonly found in the lower part of the small intestine called the ileum, affects 1-in-1,000 people in Europe and North America.