Genetic variants of lipase activity in chronic pancreatitis

We read with great interest the article by Weiss et al1 reporting genetic associations of rs632111 (fucosyltransferase 2; FUT2), rs8176693 (ABO) and rs889512 (chymotrypsinogen B2; CTRB2) with lipase levels. Weiss et al also claimed that the variants at the FUT2 and ABO loci were associated with chronic pancreatitis (CP). No association with CP was observed for the CTRB2 locus. Elevated lipase levels are a diagnostic criterion for acute pancreatitis and might mirror subclinical pancreatic injury in patients without severe complaints. Hence, variants associated with elevated serum lipase levels might also be associated with CP risk. In a recent genome-wide association study, genetic variants of CP risk were identified in PRSS1 and CLDN2-MORC4.2 A large European replication study refined these associations to alcohol-related CP.3 However, no associations were revealed at FUT2 and ABO in the former genome-wide association study.2 Given the relatively...

Source: Gut - December 8, 2015 Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Kirsten, H., Scholz, M., Kovacs, P., Grallert, H., Peters, A., Strauch, K., Frank, J., Rietschel, M., Nöthen, M. M., Witt, H., Rosendahl, J. Tags: PostScript Source Type: research