Inflammatory gene expression profiles in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis: A comparative analysis using a reverse transcriptase multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification protocol

• Published in: Journal of Crohn's and colitis Vol. 7; no. 8; pp. 622 - 630
• Main Authors: Gologan, Serban, Iacob, Razvan, Iancu, Daniela, Iacob, Speranta, Cotruta, Bogdan, Vadan, Roxana, Catuneanu, Ana-Maria, Constantinescu, Ileana, Barbarii, Ligia, Gheorghe, Cristian, Diculescu, Mircea
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier B.V 01-09-2013
• Subjects: Adult; Case-Control Studies; Chemokines - genetics; Colitis, Ulcerative - genetics; Crohn Disease - genetics; Crohn's disease; Cytokines; Cytokines - genetics; Female; Gene Expression; Gene Expression Profiling; Genotype; Humans; Inflammatory bowel disease; Male; Middle Aged; Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction; Phenotype; RNA, Messenger - analysis; RT-MLPA; Signal Transduction - genetics; Transcription Factors - genetics; Ulcerative colitis; Young Adult; Inflammatory bowel disease; Crohn's disease; Cytokines; Gene expression; Ulcerative colitis; RT-MLPA
• ISSN: 1873-9946; 1876-4479
• DOI: 10.1016/j.crohns.2012.08.015

Cytokines and their receptors play a critical role in the pathogenesis of the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of this study was to investigate the expression profiles of inflammatory genes in inflamed and non-inflamed colonic tissue samples in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), and to identify molecular signatures for different IBD phenotypes.
Seventy-one patients diagnosed with IBD (38 CD, 33 UC) and 15 non-IBD controls have been included in the study. For each patient, biopsy samples were obtained during colonoscopy from inflamed (L) and healthy (N) mucosa. We investigated by commercially available reverse-transcriptase multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (RT-MLPA) kit the mRNA expression of a set of 40 genes involved in inflammation: cytokines, chemokines, receptors, signal transduction molecules and transcription factors.
In L biopsies from patients with CD, higher expression levels were found for IL-4 (p=0.009) and IL-12p35 (p=0.0005), whereas in L biopsy samples from patients with UC higher expression levels were found for IL-8 (p=0.03), chemokines SCYA3 (p=0.05), SCYA4 (p=0.01) and glutathione S-transferase P1 (p=0.01). In N biopsies of patients with CD higher expression levels were found for IL-1R (p=0.01) and IL-12p35 (p=0.007), whereas in N biopsies of patients with UC higher expression levels were found for IL-15 (p=0.009) and SCYA8 (p=0.001). The logistic regression analysis has indicated that low expression levels of IL-2 and IL-10, together with higher ASCA IgG titers were independently associated with penetrating/stricturing CD.
RT-MLPA is a sensitive and effective method for the evaluation of the profiles of inflammatory genes in IBD, with potential future applications for diagnosis, phenotypic stratification and targeted therapy.