Background:
The pregnane X receptor (PXR/NR1I2) is an important regulator of xenobiotic metabolism and intestinal integrity. However, there are controversial studies on the role of PXR/NR1I2 in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We therefore initiated the largest analysis to date on PXR/NR1I2 gene variants in IBD patients.
Methods: Genomic DNA from 2823 individuals of Caucasian origin including 859 patients with Crohn's disease (CD), 464 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), and 1500 healthy, unrelated controls was analyzed for eight PXR/NR1I2 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs12721602 (À25564), rs3814055 (À25385), rs1523128 (À24756), rs1523127 (À24381), rs45610735 ¼ p.Gly36Arg (þ106), rs6785049 (þ7635), rs2276707 (þ8055), and rs3814057 (þ11156)). In addition, detailed haplotype and genotype-phenotype analyses were performed.
Results:
The PXR/NR1I2 SNP rs2276707 was weakly associated with UC susceptibility (P ¼ 0.01; odds ratio [OR] 1.27 [1.06-1.52]). None of the other PXR/NR1I2 SNPs were associated with UC or CD susceptibility. However, several rare PXR/NR1I2 haplotypes were highly associated with CD susceptibility. In CD, the strongest disease association was found for a haplotype consisting of the SNPs rs12721602-rs3814055-rs1523128-rs1523127-rs12721607-rs6785049-rs2276707-rs3814057 (omnibus P-value: 6.50 Â 10 À15 ) which was found in two separate cohorts (cohort I ¼ discovery cohort: CD: n ¼ 492, controls: n ¼ 793; P ¼ 4.51 Â 10 À17 ; Bonferroni corrected: P ¼ 1.27 Â 10 À15 ; cohort II ¼ replication cohort: CD: n ¼ 367, controls: n ¼ 707; P ¼ 7.12 Â 10 À4 ; P corr ¼ 1.99 Â 10 À2 ).
Conclusions: Several PXR/NR1I2 haplotypes contribute to CD susceptibility, suggesting a role for PXR in the IBD pathogenesis of a certain patient subcohort. Given the accumulating evidence for an important role of PXR in intestinal inflammation, further analyses are required to investigate the functional and pharmacogenetic implications of these PXR/NR1I2 gene variants in IBD.