Pilot study: duodenal MDR1 and COX2 gene expression in cats with inflammatory bowel disease and low-grade alimentary lymphoma.

Jorge Castro-López,Marta Planellas,Josep Pastor,Camino Fierro,Mariana Teles,Karin Allenspach

doi:10.1177/1098612x17730708

Jorge Castro-López, Marta Planellas + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.1177/1098612x17730708

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Abstract

Objectives Multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1) encodes a protein called P-glycoprotein (P-gp), which serves as an efflux pump membrane protein implicated in intestinal homeostasis and drug resistance. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2) is a key enzyme in the synthesis of proinflammatory prostaglandins, tumourigenesis and in mucosal defence. Despite the importance of MDR1 and COX2, changes in their mRNA levels have not been studied in cats with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and low-grade alimentary lymphoma (LGAL). The present study aimed to determine the mRNA levels of MDR1 and COX2 in cats with IBD and LGAL, and to evaluate their correlation with clinical signs, histological severity and between genes. Methods Cats diagnosed with IBD (n = 20) and LGAL (n = 9) between 2008 and 2015 were included in the current study. Three healthy animals composed the healthy control cats group in which endoscopy was performed immediately before the ovariohysterectomy. All duodenal biopsy samples were obtained by endoscopy. Feline chronic enteropathy activity index was calculated for all cases. IBD histopathology was classified according to severity. MDR1 and COX2 mRNA levels were determined by absolute reverse transcriptase-quantitative real-time PCR. Results Statistically significant differences were observed for MDR1 and COX2 mRNA levels between the IBD and LGAL groups. No correlations were observed between molecular gene expression, feline chronic enteropathy activity index and histological grading for IBD, and between MDR1 and COX2 genes. However, a positive statistically significant correlation was observed between MDR1 and COX2 expression in the duodenum of cats. Conclusions and relevance MDR1 and COX2 gene expression is increased in cats with LGAL compared with cats with IBD. The control group tended to have lower values than both diseased groups. These results suggest that these genes may be involved in the pathogenesis of IBD or LGAL in cats.

Highlights

20 cats were diagnosed with Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and nine with low-grade alimentary lymphoma (LGAL)
domestic shorthair (DSH) and Siamese cats were over-represented in the IBD group, a predisposition to this disease has been proposed for the latter breed.[1,2,3,4,5,6,16,46]
Cats with IBD from a previous study presented with similar Feline CE activity index (FCEAI) scores to those included in the study

Summary

Introduction

The multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1) or ABCB1 gene belongs to the family of ABC Cassette) transporters gene.[18,19,20] MDR1 codes for P-glycoprotein (P-gp), an efflux pump membrane protein that actively transports substrates such as bacterial products and drugs from the inside to the outside of cells, is likely implicated in IBD pathogenesis and resistance to treatments.[19,20,21,22] Previously, it has been described that MDR1a-deficient mice develop colitis and that human patients with IBD show reduced expression of MDR1 in the colon.[23,24] elevated P-gp expression levels have been shown in canine IBD and have been associated with poor prognosis.[25] Likewise, MDR1 has been implicated in treatment resistance to various chemotherapy regimens used in veterinary species.[26]

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