Polymorphism in the retinoic acid metabolizing enzyme CYP26B1 and the development of Crohn's Disease

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 8; no. 8; p. e72739
• Main Authors: Fransén, Karin, Franzén, Petra, Magnuson, Anders, Elmabsout, Ali Ateia, Nyhlin, Nils, Wickbom, Anna, Curman, Bengt, Törkvist, Leif, D'Amato, Mauro, Bohr, Johan, Tysk, Curt, Sirsjö, Allan, Halfvarson, Jonas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 19.08.2013; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Acids; Adult; Alleles; Biology; Blood & organ donations; Carriers; Case-Control Studies; Clinical medicine; Colitis; Colitis, Ulcerative - genetics; Colon; Consent; Crohn Disease - enzymology; Crohn Disease - genetics; Cytochrome; Cytochrome P-450; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System - genetics; Cytochrome P450; Dehydrogenases; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; Ethics; Female; Gastroenterologi; Gastroenterology; Gastrointestinal diseases; Gene Frequency - genetics; Gene polymorphism; Genes; Genetic aspects; Genetic Association Studies; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Genotyping; Health risks; Hospitals; Humans; Inflammation; Inflammatory bowel disease; Inflammatory bowel diseases; Internal medicine; Intestine; Klinisk medicin; Male; Medical research; Medicin; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Medicine; Medicinsk genetik; Medicinska och farmaceutiska grundvetenskaper; Pathogenesis; Patients; Polymorphism; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide - genetics; Retinoic acid; Retinoic Acid 4-Hydroxylase; Rodents; Single nucleotide polymorphisms; Single-nucleotide polymorphism; Tretinoin - metabolism; Ulcerative colitis; Vitamin A; Uppsala Sweden; Sweden
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0072739

Several studies suggest that Vitamin A may be involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but the mechanism is still unknown. Cytochrome P450 26 B1 (CYP26B1) is involved in the degradation of retinoic acid and the polymorphism rs2241057 has an elevated catabolic function of retinoic acid, why we hypothesized that the rs2241057 polymorphism may affect the risk of Crohn's disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC). DNA from 1378 IBD patients, divided into 871 patients with CD and 507 with UC, and 1205 healthy controls collected at Örebro University Hospital and Karolinska University Hospital were analyzed for the CYP26B1 rs2241057 polymorphism with TaqMan® SNP Genotyping Assay followed by allelic discrimination analysis. A higher frequency of patients homozygous for the major (T) allele was associated with CD but not UC compared to the frequency found in healthy controls. A significant association between the major allele and non-stricturing, non-penetrating phenotype was evident for CD. However, the observed associations reached borderline significance only, after correcting for multiple testing. We suggest that homozygous carriers of the major (T) allele, relative to homozygous carriers of the minor (C) allele, of the CYP26B1 polymorphism rs2241057 may have an increased risk for the development of CD, which possibly may be due to elevated levels of retinoic acid. Our data may support the role of Vitamin A in the pathophysiology of CD, but the exact mechanisms remain to be elucidated.