Genetic polymorphism of MCP-1-2518, IL-8-251 and susceptibility to acute pancreatitis:: A pilot study in population of Suzhou, China

AIM: To study the relationship between MCP-1-2518A/G, IL-8-251A/T polymorphism and acute pancreatitis (AP) in the Han population of Suzhou, China. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted to compare the distribution of genotype and genetic frequency of MCP-1-25-18A/G, IL-8-251A/T gene polymorphism among AP (n = 101), including mild AP (n = 78) and severe AP (n = 23) and control healthy individuals (n = 120) with polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and DNA sequencing, and analyze the relationship between the MCP-1-2518A/G, IL-8-251A/T gene polymorphism and the susceptibility to AP. RESULTS: Significant differences were found in the distribution of genotype of MCP-1-2518A/G between (chi(2) = the healthy control group and mild AP group, = 32.015, P < 0.001), the same was evident between the healthy control group and severe AP group (chi(2) = 12.932, P < 0.05) in Suzhou. However, no difference of genotypic distribution was noted between MAP and SAP (chi(2) = 0.006, P = 0.997). The genetic frequencies of G allele in mild AP were 72.4% (113/156) and 76.1% (35/46) in severe AP, both were higher than the controls, 47.1% (113/240) (chi(2) = 24.804; P < 0.001, and 11005; P < 0.001), but no difference was found between severe AP and mild AP (chi(2) = 0.242; P = 0.623). No difference was found in the distribution of genotype of IL-8-251A/T between the healthy control group and AP group neither in the frequency of A and T allele. CONCLUSION: The MCP-1-2518 AA genotype of the population in Suzhou may be a protective genotype of AP, while one with higher frequency of G allele is more likely to suffer from pancreatitis. But the genotype of AA and the frequency of G allele could not predict the risk of severe AP. No correlation is found between the IL-8-251 polymorphism and the liability of AP. (C) 2008 The WJG Press. All rights reserved.