Clinical Research
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2004. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Mar 1, 2004; 10(5): 717-720
Published online Mar 1, 2004. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v10.i5.717
Association of FAS (TNFRSF6)-670 gene polymorphism with villous atrophy in coeliac disease
Jing Wu, BZ Alizadeh, TV Veen, JWR Meijer, CJJ Mulder, AS Peña
Jing Wu, BZ Alizadeh, TV Veen, AS Peña, Laboratory of Immunogenetics and Department of Gastroenterology, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands
JWR Meijer, CJJ Mulder, Departments of Pathology and Hepatogastroenterology, Rijnstate Hospital, Arnhem, The Netherlands
CJJ Mulder, Head of Department of Gastroenterology, VU University Medical Center, P.O. Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, Netherlands
Jing Wu, Department of Gastroenterology, Jiangsu Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 210029 Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
BZ Alizadeh, Genetic Epidemiology Unit, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Department of Clinical Genetics, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
TV Veen, Department of Neurology, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Supported by the Chinese Scholarship Council, No. 98932034
Correspondence to: Professor A.S. Peña, MD, PhD, FRCP, VU University Medical Centre, Department of Gastroenterology, Laboratory of Immunogenetics, P.O. Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands. as.pena@vumc.nl
Telephone: +31-20-4448416 Fax: +31-20-4448418
Received: July 17, 2003
Revised: September 28, 2003
Accepted: October 7, 2003
Published online: March 1, 2004
Abstract

AIM: To investigate the association of FAS gene polymorphism with coeliac disease (CD) development.

METHODS: FAS-G670A gene polymorphism, located in a gamma interferon activation site, was studied in 146 unrelated CD patients and 203 healthy ethnically matched controls. The restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method was used to identify FAS-G670A gene polymorphism.

RESULTS: No significant difference was found in genotype frequency between CD cases and controls. In controls, however, the frequency of the GG genotype was significantly higher in women (26.5%) than in men (12.8%) (OR = 2.44, 95%CI 1.15-5.20, P = 0.020) and it was also higher in men with CD than controls (OR = 2.60, 95%CI 0.96-7.05, P = 0.061). The GG genotype frequency was significantly higher in patients with most severe villous atrophy (Marsh IIIc lesions) (OR = 3.74, 95%CI 1.19-11.82, P = 0.025). A significantly less proportion of men suffered from Marsh IIIc lesions than women (OR = 0.20, 95%CI 0.06-0.68, P = 0.01). The risk of having severe villous atrophy increased with the additive effect of the G allele in women (P = 0.027 for trend, age and gender adjusted).

CONCLUSION: FAS-G670A gene polymorphism is associated with the severity of villous atrophy in CD. Female gender is also associated with the severity of villous atrophy.

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