NOD2 gene variant frequency and bacterial translocation in patients with acute pancreatitis

NOD2 Gene Variant Frequency and Bacterial Translocation in Patients with Acute Pancreatitis Introduction and Aim: Intestinal barrier dysfunctions are one of the responsible factors in pathogenesis of severe acute pancreatitis. NOD2 is a protein that plays an important role in intestinal defense mechanisms. The aim of our study was to investigate the frequency of NOD2 variants among patients with severe and mild acute pancreatitis. Materials and Methods: There were three groups in our work. Group 1 was healthy. Group 2 and Group 3 were composed of mild and severe pancreatitis patients according to the Atlanta 2012 classification. In all groups, 4 NOD2 variant frequencies and serum IL-6, TNF-a and LBP levels were studied. Results: Two mutations (p.G908R and c.3020insC) were not detected in any group. In our study, p.R702W variant was positive in 3 patients (3/32, 9.4%) in severe pancreatitis group, but this variant was negative in the other two groups. 1007fs variant was positive in 3, 3 and 1 patient in mild (3/36, 8.3%) and severe pancreatitis (3/32, 9.4%) groups, and in healthy group (1/27, 3.7%), respectively. There was no significant difference for p.R702W and 1007fs variants between mild and severe pancreatitis group. Serum IL-6, TNF- and LBP levels were significantly higher in the severe pancreatitis group than in the healthy group and mild pancreatitis group (both p <0.001). Conclusion: Our results support that may be a strong relationship between the presence of p.R702W variant and severe pancreatitis. To elucidate the association between levels of inflammatory cytokines and NOD2 variants, it may be useful to investigate much more NOD2 variants in patients with acute pancreatitis. The keywords: Acute pancreatitis, bacterial translocation, NOD2