The influence of CTGF single-nucleotide polymorphisms on outcomes in Crohn's disease

To examine the association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in CTGF (connective tissue growth factor) and patient outcomes after terminal ileal resection for Crohn's disease.

The primary indication for intestinal resection in Crohn's disease is fibrostenotic terminal ileal disease. CTGF is a cytokine overexpressed in the intestine of patients with Crohn's disease that influences outcomes in other disease processes.

DNA was extracted from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue from 147 patients with Crohn's disease who had undergone terminal ileal resection between 1981 and 2009. Genotyping was performed for 4 CTGF SNPs (rs9402373, rs12526196, rs6918698, and rs9399005), which modulate nuclear factor binding and CTGF production, and a smad3 SNP (rs17293632) involved in the CTGF pathway. Patients were phenotyped using the Montreal Disease Classification.

Sixty-seven of 147 patients (45.6%) were male; the mean age at diagnosis was 30.3 ± 12.6 years and the mean follow-up duration was 8.3 ± 7.1 years. Genotype-phenotype analysis demonstrated that the rs6918698GG genotype was associated with an older age of disease onset [>40 years; 30.6% vs 13.2%; odds ratio (OR): 2.891; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.170-7.147). The rs9402373CC genotype was positively associated with type B1 disease (50.7% vs 26.3%; OR: 2.876; 95% CI: 1.226-6.743) and negatively associated with B2 disease (37.0% vs 65.0%; OR: 0.317; 95% CI: 0.144-0.699). None of the 5 SNPs assessed influenced clinical or surgical recurrence of Crohn's disease after intestinal resection. On multivariate analysis, male sex odds ratio (OR): 0.235; 95% CI: 0.073-0.755; P = 0.015] and never having smoked tobacco (OR: 0.249; 95% CI: 0.070-0.894; P = 0.033) reduced the risk, whereas having a prior appendectomy increased the risk (OR: 5.048; 95% CI: 1.632-15.617; P = 0.005) of surgical recurrence.

These data implicate the rs6918698GG genotype with an age of disease onset of greater than 40 years in Crohn's disease whereas the rs9402373CC genotype is associated with a nonstricturing, nonpenetrating disease phenotype. CTGF SNPs do not influence the rate of recurrence after terminal ileal resection for Crohn's disease.