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Expression of mRNA for glucocorticoid receptors in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with Crohn's disease
Author(s) -
Hori Takashiro,
Watanabe Kouichi,
Miyaoka Masaaki,
Moriyasu Fuminori,
Onda Kenji,
Hirano Toshihiko,
Oka Kitaro
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of gastroenterology and hepatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.214
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1440-1746
pISSN - 0815-9319
DOI - 10.1046/j.1440-1746.2002.02841.x
Subject(s) - peripheral blood mononuclear cell , messenger rna , medicine , glucocorticoid receptor , receptor , glucocorticoid , endocrinology , immune system , reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction , real time polymerase chain reaction , immunology , biology , gene , in vitro , biochemistry
Background: The amount of glucocorticoid (GC) receptors (GR) in immune cells might be critical for successful GC treatment of patients with Crohn's disease (CD). However, little is known about the expression of GR in CD; therefore, we carried out quantitative analyses for GR messenger (m)RNA expression in peripheral‐blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of CD. Methods: Seventeen patients with CD and 33 healthy subjects entered into this study. We measured the GRα mRNA level in the PBMC of these subjects by a reverse transcription‐competitive polymerase chain reaction procedure. Relative amounts for GRβ mRNA were obtained semiquantitatively. Results: The amounts of GRα‐mRNA in the CD patients and healthy subjects were 0.053 ± 0.052 and 0.130 ± 0.108 (copies/copies of β‐actin mRNA), respectively. The former value was significantly lower than that of the latter ( P < 0.01). The rates of the CD patients and healthy subjects expressing GRβ‐mRNA in PBMC were 41.2% and 45.5%, respectively, and there was no significant difference in the rates between the two groups ( P = 0.339). However, the relative amounts of GRβ‐mRNA in the PBMC were estimated to be 1.053 × 10 −5 ± 2.540 × 10 −5 for the CD patients, and 1.872 × 10 −5 ± 3.252 × 10 −5 (fluorescence intensity/copies of β‐actin mRNA) for the healthy subjects, and the former was significantly smaller than the latter ( P < 0.05). Moreover, there was an inverse correlation between the duration of disease (year) and the amounts of GRα‐mRNA in the PBMC of the CD patients ( P < 0.05). Conclusions: The amounts of GRα‐mRNA and GRβ‐mRNA in the PBMC of the CD patients were lower than those of the healthy subjects. The duration of disease correlated with decreased amounts of GRα‐mRNA in the PBMC. Furthermore, the clinical significance of the GR‐mRNA status in the PBMC remains to be elucidated.