Association of SEEK1 polymorphisms in Crohn's disease

Crohn's disease (CD) is an inflammatory bowel disease that is likely the result of an interplay of genetic and environmental factors. Recent studies have postulated similarities in genetic susceptibility of CD and psoriasis. Because the +39604 SEEK1 polymorphism in chromosome 6p has recently been associated with psoriasis, the prevalence of this polymorphism, as well as two additional single nucleotide polymorphisms in the SEEK1 gene, in patients with CD from the Newfoundland population were determined. In total, 126 CD and 105 ethnically matched healthy controls were genotyped via time-of-flight mass spectrometry for the following SEEK1 polymorphisms: +39604 and +39709 in exon 2 and +26680 in exon 5. The allele frequency for the mutant allele for +39604, +39709, and +26680 was 16.3%, 44.5%, and 0%, respectively, in subjects with CD as compared with 17.6%, 42.0%, and 0%, respectively, in controls. There was no statistical difference in any of the variants between patients with CD and controls. The SEEK1polymorphisms +39604, +39709, and +26680 are not associated with CD in the Newfoundland population.