Abstract
Objective To identify differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in sera of patients with chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) and to explore acupuncture's mechanism in CAG. Methods Peripheral sera from 8 healthy volunteers (HC), 8 chronic nonatrophic gastritis (NAG) patients, 8 CAG patients, and 8 CAG patients who underwent acupuncture treatment (CAG + ACU) were collected followed by labeling with iTRAQ reagent for protein identification and quantification using two-dimensional liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (2D-LC-MS/MS). Representative DEPs were selected through bioinformatics, and proteins were verified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results A total of 4,448 unique peptides were identified, corresponding to 816 nonredundant proteins. A 1.4-fold difference was used as the threshold. Compared with the HC group, 75 and 106 DEPs were identified from CAG and NAG groups, respectively. Compared with the CAG group, 110 and 66 DEPs were identified from the NAG and CAG + ACU groups, respectively. The DEPs were mainly involved in protein binding and the Notch signaling pathway-related proteins, and the upregulated proteins included actin-binding proteins (thymosin beta-4, tropomyosin-4, profilin-1, transgelin-2), while the downregulated proteins included Notch2 and Notch3. After acupuncture, the expression of these proteins in CAG patients was less differentiated from that in healthy people. The level of the above 6 proteins were verified by ELISA, and the results were similar to the results of iTRAQ analysis. Conclusions Actin-binding proteins and Notch signaling pathway-related proteins were correlated with the development and progression of CAG and thus are potential diagnostic markers for CAG. Acupuncture may play a role in regulating actin-binding proteins and Notch signaling pathway-related proteins to play a therapeutic role in CAG.
Highlights
Chronic gastritis is characterized as either chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) or nonatrophic gastritis (NAG), of which CAG includes gland atrophy and intestinal metaplasia and is recognized as a precancerous lesion [1, 2]
Research Subjects. is study included 24 research subjects, consisting of healthy volunteers (n 8, A group, labeled 114, 18–70 years old), NAG patients (n 8, B group, labeled 115, 18–70 years old), CAG patients (n 8, C group, labeled 116, 18–70 years old), and CAG patients who underwent acupuncture treatment (n 8, D group, labeled 117, 18–70 years old). Healthy volunteers were those with normal gastric mucosa on gastroscopy, while the other patients had mild and moderate CAG or NAG and were treated at the medical outpatient clinic of the Shanghai Research Institute of Acupuncture and Meridian, Shanghai, China, from May 2016 to June 2019. e diagnostic criteria were in accordance with the Consensus on Chronic Gastritis in China issued by the Chinese Society of Gastroenterology [20]. e mucosa specimens of gastric were taken under gastroscopy, and the degree of atrophy/intestinal metaplasia were evaluated by the OLGA (Operative Link for Gastritis Assessment) staging system [21]
Gene Ontology (GO) Enrichment Analysis. e 4 groups of differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were classified according to the molecular function (MF), cellular component (CC), and biological process (BP) of each protein via the GO database followed by using Fisher’s exact test (p < 0.05) to obtain the protein function classifications that were significantly related to CAG (Figure 2)
Summary
Chronic gastritis is characterized as either chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) or nonatrophic gastritis (NAG), of which CAG includes gland atrophy and intestinal metaplasia and is recognized as a precancerous lesion [1, 2]. Some researchers have proposed a combined analysis of serum gastrin-1, pepsinogen I, pepsinogen II, and their ratios for CAG diagnosis [5], but studies have shown that serum gastrin-17 levels are not significantly correlated with the degree of antral atrophy and cannot be used as the gold standard of CAG diagnosis and treatment [6] Another therapeutic regimen for Helicobacter pylori (HP)positive CAG involves using triple therapy (i.e., proton pump inhibitor or bismuth plus 2 antibiotics) to eradicate HP in order to improve the clinical symptoms of CAG; in addition, gastric mucosal-protective agents, digestive enzyme inhibitors, and gastrointestinal motility drugs can be used according to the symptoms.. The effect of acupuncture on differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in the serum of CAG patients remains unknown
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
