title: Heme oxygenase-1 gene promoter polymorphism is associated with the development of necrotizing acute pancreatitis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Acute pancreatitis is a severe and frequently life-threatening disease, which can lead to pancreatic necrosis, acute lung injury, systemic inflammatory response syndrome, and other complications. In this study, we hypothesized that the expression of heme oxygenase-1 determined by the number of guanidinium thiocyanate (GT) repeats can influence the occurrence of acute pancreatitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with acute pancreatitis (n = 131) and age- and sex-matched healthy controls (n = 108) were studied. The polymerase chain reaction products were analyzed by ABI 3130 genetic analyzer and the exact size of the polymerase chain reaction products was determined by GeneMapper software. A short allele was defined as containing 27 GT repeats or fewer, whereas a long allele was more than 27 repeats.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The subjects were categorized into 3 groups on the basis of the genotype results: 1 short and 1 long, 2 short, and 2 long alleles (L/L). Patients with necrotizing disease more frequently were carriers of LL genotype compared with those who had edematous acute pancreatitis. Furthermore, logistic regression analysis revealed that the presence of L/L allele type doubles the risk for developing pancreatic necrosis in patients with acute pancreatitis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The polymorphism of the GT repeats in the heme oxygenase-1 promoter region may be a risk factor for developing severe and necrotizing acute pancreatitis.
authors.affiliation: From the *Department of Surgery, Academy of Medicine, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania; †Department of Pathology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA; ‡Institute for Digestive Research, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania; and §Department of Surgery, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA.
authors.forename: Aiste
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gulla
authors.forename: Barry J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: Jean Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Navenot
authors.forename: Juozas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pundzius
authors.forename: Giedrius
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Barauskas
authors.forename: Antanas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gulbinas
authors.forename: Zilvinas
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Dambrauskas
authors.forename: Hwyda
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Arafat
authors.forename: Zi-Xuan
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002769:Cholelithiasis / Q000150:complications; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000009:adverse effects; D018900:Dinucleotide Repeats; D018450:Disease Progression; D004487:Edema / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D051547:Heme Oxygenase-1 / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics; D019283:Pancreatitis, Acute Necrotizing / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics*; D019512:Pancreatitis, Alcoholic / Q000150:complications; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats; C496541:HMOX1 protein, human; D051547:Heme Oxygenase-1