ABCC7/CFTR Expression Is Associated with the Clinical Course of Ulcerative Colitis Patients.

Marco A Villeda-Ramírez,Daniela Meza-Guillen,Rafael Barreto-Zúñiga,Jesús K Yamamoto-Furusho,Michele Manigrasso

doi:10.1155/2021/5536563

Abstract

Inflammatory bowel disease includes ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) of unknown etiology. The expression of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) family proteins has been associated with drug resistance and development of UC. The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) or also known as ABCC7 is involved in the inflammatory chronic response. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of ABCC7/CFTR in UC patients and normal controls without inflammation. This is an exploratory, observational, and cross-sectional study that included a total of 62 patients with UC and normal controls. Gene expression of CFTR was measured by RT-PCR, and protein expression of CFTR was determined by western blot analysis. We found a significant downregulation of the CFTR gene expression in patients with active UC compared to normal controls without inflammation (P < 0.004); even the gene expression of CFTR was decreased in remission UC patients compared to normal controls without inflammation (P = 0.04). The CFTR gene expression was associated with the clinical course of UC and the protein expression of CFTR was decreased in active UC patients compared to normal controls without inflammation suggesting that this molecule might play a role in the inflammation in UC patients.

Highlights

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory condition of the colon that affects only the colonic mucosa of unknown etiology
The presence of mutation in the ABCC member 7 (ABCC7)/CFTR gene has been associated with cystic fibrosis (CF) which is a prevalent disease in white populations; dysfunction and changes in gene expression have been implicated in other disease development, including chronic inflammation [11, 12]
Our study demonstrated a downregulation of the gene and protein expression of CFTR or ABCC7 in patients with active UC compared to UC in remission and normal controls without inflammation

Summary

Introduction

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory condition of the colon that affects only the colonic mucosa of unknown etiology. Genes that encode for a family of ABC transmembranal multidrug-resistant proteins (ABC (ATP-binding cassette) family) have been associated with medical response and clinical course of disease [6]. The ABCC member 7 (ABCC7), known cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), is an ionic channel that actively participates in the regulation of elimination and absorption of chloride ion in different tissues including the gastrointestinal tract [9, 10]. The presence of mutation in the ABCC7/CFTR gene has been associated with cystic fibrosis (CF) which is a prevalent disease in white populations; dysfunction and changes in gene expression have been implicated in other disease development, including chronic inflammation [11, 12].

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