Physicians and researchers at CHU Sainte-Justine, Université de Montréal, CHU de Québec, Université Laval, and Hubrecht Institute have discovered a rare disease affecting both heart rate and intestinal movements. The disease, which has been named "Chronic Atrial Intestinal Dysrhythmia syndrome" (CAID), is a serious condition caused by a rare genetic mutation. This finding demonstrates that rhythmic contractions of heart and guts are closely linked by a single gene in the human body, as shown in the study published online on October 5, 2014 in Nature Genetics. The research teams in Canada have also developed a diagnostic test for the CAID syndrome. "This test will identify with certainty the syndrome, which is characterized by the combined presence of various cardiac and intestinal symptoms," said Dr. Gregor Andelfinger, a pediatric cardiologist and researcher at CHU Sainte-Justine "The symptoms are severe, and treatments are very aggressive and invasive,” added Dr. Philippe Chetaille, a pediatric cardiologist and researcher at the University Hospital CHU de Québec." At cardiac level, patients suffer primarily from a slow heart rate, a condition which will require the implantation of a pacemaker for half of them, often as early as in their childhood. At digestive level, a chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction will often force patients to feed exclusively intravenously. Furthermore, many of them will also have to undergo bowel surgery. By analyzing the DNA of patients of French-Canadian origin and a patient of Scandinavian origin showing both the cardiac and the gastrointestinal condition, the researchers were able to identify a mutation in the gene SGOL1 that is common to all of patients showing both profiles.Login Or Register To Read Full Story