Patent ID: 7879553

Claim:
A method for differentiating between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in a human subject, comprising: (a) contacting a mRNA-derived nucleic acid sample obtained from a human subject suspected of having IBD or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) under hybridizing conditions with at least 7 nucleotide probes, wherein a first nucleotide probe consists of 15 or more contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:5 (UBE2G1) or a full complement thereof, a second nucleotide probe consists of 15 or more contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:6 (CALM3) or a full complement thereof, a third nucleotide probe consists of 15 or more contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:9 (HIST1H2BK) or a full complement thereof, a fourth nucleotide probe consists of 15 or more contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:10 (PPP2R5A) or a full complement thereof, a fifth nucleotide probe consists of 15 or more contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:3BLCAP) or a full complement thereof, a sixth nucleotide probe and a seventh nucleotide probe consist of 15 or more contiguous nucleotides of a nucleic acid selected from the group consisting of: (i) SEQ ID NO:1 (RAP1A) and SEQ ID NO:7 (GPX1) or full complements thereof; (ii) SEQ ID NO:2 (RAP1A) and SEQ ID NO:7 (GPX1) or full complements thereof; (iii) SEQ ID NO:1 (RAP1A) and SEQ ID NO:8 (GPX1) or full complements thereof; and (iv) SEQ ID NO:2 (RAP1A) and SEQ ID NO:8 (GPX1) or full complements thereof; (b) detecting formation of hybridization complexes between the nucleotide probes and the nucleic acid targets in the nucleic acid sample, wherein the hybridization complexes provide a measure of gene expression of the nucleic acid targets; and (c) diagnosing whether the human subject is likely to have IBD or IBS based on the measure of gene expression of the nucleic acid targets, wherein gene expression levels of the nucleic acid targets differentiate between IBD and IBS.