A recent study established epigenetic evidence of a north-south gradient in IBD [59], observing replication of former epigenetic results for VMP1 (vacuole membrane protein, also known as TMEM49, which plays a regulatory role in autophagy) and SBNO2 (strawberry notch homolog 2, which has a cellular response to IL-6 and macrophage activation) in a new cohort of Scandinavian and UK patients, but not in a Spanish cohort. Here, VMP1 is linked to inflammatory bowel disease.