title: Association between mutations in the CARD15 (NOD2) gene and Crohn's disease in Israeli Jewish patients.
abstract: Ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) are heterogeneous disorders characterized by chronic intestinal inflammation. Genetic predisposition is a major risk factor in both diseases. The CARD15 (NOD2) gene has been implied as a candidate gene in the pathogenesis CD. Our aim was to delineate the frequency of three missense and one frameshift variant of CARD15 in Israeli Jewish CD and UC patients. DNA was extracted from blood samples from 238 unrelated inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients, 68 with UC and 170 with CD. The DNA was genotyped for two missense mutations, R675W and G881R, and one frameshift mutation, 980FS981X. Mutations in CARD15 were observed with significantly greater frequency in CD patients (46/170, 27%) than in UC patients (7/68, 10%) (P = 0.005). Homozygous and compound heterozygous carriers were restricted to seven (4%) patients with CD as compared to none of the UC patients (P = 0.01). Similar rates in Ashkenazi and non-Ashkenazi Jewish patients were observed. Age-of-onset of disease was lower in Ashkenazi mutation carriers as compared to non-carriers of Ashkenazi origin (18.7 +/- 8.6 years vs. 25.8 +/- 13.4 years, respectively, P = 0.03). No other phenotypic characteristics could distinguish mutation carriers from non-carriers. We conclude that germline mutations in the CARD15 gene are more frequently found in CD than UC patients and appear to predict an earlier age-of-onset in Ashkenazi Jewish patients. No association could be demonstrated between CARD15 mutations and specific disease course or behavior.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Affiliated with the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel. hermafidder@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Herma H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Fidder
authors.forename: Sylviane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Olschwang
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Avidan
authors.forename: Habib
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zouali
authors.forename: Alon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.forename: Eytan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bardan
authors.forename: Orit
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Picard
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bar-Meir
authors.forename: Jean Frederic
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Colombel
authors.forename: Yehuda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chowers
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D000483:Alleles; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000235:genetics; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D016368:Frameshift Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D018095:Germ-Line Mutation / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D007557:Israel / Q000208:ethnology; D007585:Jews / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D020125:Mutation, Missense / Q000235:genetics*; D053473:Nod2 Signaling Adaptor Protein
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; C429018:NOD2 protein, human; D053473:Nod2 Signaling Adaptor Protein