IFNA1 and inflammatory bowel disease: Aberrant mucosal immune responses, external exposures, and alterations of the gut microbiome have been proposed as contributing risk factors of IBD, but specific immune pathways need to be elucidated to design targeted therapeutic approaches.125,126 The role of IFN signaling in modulating the host mucosal immune response and how gut microbiota alter this is still a growing area of research.