BACKGROUND/AIMS: Susceptibility to organ damage induced by alcohol may be related to inherited variations (polymorphisms) in alcohol-metabolizing enzymes, or polymorphisms affecting cytokines. The aim of this study was to compare the genotype and allelic frequencies of ADH2, ADH3, ALDH2, cytochrome P450-2E1, IL-1, IL-6, IL-8 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in patients with alcoholic pancreatitis and alcoholic liver cirrhosis with those of controls. METHODS: We determined the polymorphism of genes of the above-mentioned alcohol-metabolizing enzymes and cytokines in 29 alcoholic pancreatitis patients (AP), 22 alcoholic liver cirrhosis patients (LC) and 100 healthy blood donors (control). The genotypes were characterized by restriction fragment length polymorphism after amplification of genomic DNA by polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: The allelic frequency of CYP2E1*c2 was significantly different in three groups (AP: LC: Control=0.224: 0.136: 0.320, p<0.05). There was no significant difference in the other genotypes or allelic frequencies of the three groups. The allelic frequencies of CYP2E1*c2 and ALDH2*2 were more frequent in the control than patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis (LC: Control=0.136: 0.320, p<0.05, LC: Control= 0.114: 0.265, p<0.05). Allelic frequencies of ADH2 was statisitcally different between LC and control (ADH2*1; LC: Control=0.727: 0.495, ADH2*2; 0.227: 0.360, ADH2*3; 0.046: 0.145, p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: There was no difference in the frequencies of genotype and allele of enzymes and cytokines among the three groups. However, frequency of ADH2*1 was significantly higher and those of CYP2E1*c2 and ALDH2*2 were significantly lower than LC group than control.
Adult ; Aged ; Alcohol Dehydrogenase/*genetics ; Aldehyde Dehydrogenase/*genetics ; Cytochrome P-450 CYP2E1/genetics ; Cytokines/*genetics ; English Abstract ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic/*genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatitis, Alcoholic/*genetics ; *Polymorphism, Genetic

BACKGROUND/AIMS: It has been found that mutations of cationic trypsinogen gene (PRSS1) and serine protease inhibitor, Kazal type 1 gene (SPINK1) increase the susceptibility of chronic pancreatitis (CP). Specifically, mutations in the PRSS1 gene are related to the occurrences of hereditary and idiopathic pancreatitis while SPINK1 mutations are known to act as a disease modifier and are associated with idiopathic CP. However, the association of SPINK1 mutations with alcoholic CP is still controversial. We investigated the prevalence of PRSS1 and SPINK1 mutations in idiopathic and alcoholic CP in Korea. METHODS: Seventy-one Korean patients with CP (alcoholic: 47, idiopathic: 22 and familial: 2) and 19 controls were included in this studies. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood of the patients. Mutations of SPINK1 (exon 3: N34S) and PRSS1 (exon 2: N29I, exon 3: R122H) genes were detected by PCR-RFLP methods. For the detection of SPINK1 mutation, restriction endonuclease PstI and BsrDI were used, while Sau3A and AflIII were used for the defection of PRSS1 mutation. RESUTLS: Only one patient (2.1%) with alcoholic CP was a heterozygote for SPINK1 (N34S) mutation. Mutation in the PRSS1 (N29I, R122H) gene was not found in any group of CP patients. Additionally, we could not find any mutations of SPINK1 or PRSS1 in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: SPINK1 and PRSS1 mutations are not related to the development of CP in Korea.
Carrier Proteins/*genetics ; English Abstract ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Mutation ; Pancreatitis/*genetics ; Pancreatitis, Alcoholic/genetics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Trypsin/*genetics ; Trypsinogen/*genetics