Total soluble and endogenous secretory receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (RAGE) in IBD

Recruitment and activation of neutrophils, with release of specific proteins such as S100 proteins, is a feature of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Soluble forms of the receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (sRAGE), and variants such as endogenous secretory (esRAGE), can act as decoy receptors by binding ligands, including S100A12. The aims of this study were to determine total sRAGE and esRAGE concentrations in patients with IBD and correlate these with C-reactive protein (CRP), endoscopic scores and clinical disease activity scores.

EDTA-plasma was collected from patients undergoing colonoscopy including those with Crohn's disease (CD: n=125), ulcerative colitis (UC: n=79) and control patients without endoscopic signs of inflammation (non-IBD: n=156). Concentrations of sRAGE and esRAGE were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and plasma CRP concentrations measured. Standard clinical disease activity and endoscopic severity scores were defined for all subjects.

Plasma sRAGE concentrations were lower in UC (but not CD) than non-IBD subjects (p<0.01). Whilst sRAGE concentrations correlated negatively with endoscopic activity in UC (p<0.05), this was not seen in CD. In contrast, esRAGE correlated negatively with disease activity in both UC (p=0.002) and CD (p=0.0001). Furthermore, sRAGE and esRAGE concentrations correlated inversely with CRP values (p<0.0001).

Although total sRAGE varied with activity in UC, esRAGE concentrations correlated inversely with endoscopic disease activity and CRP levels in both UC and CD. Additional studies are required to further define the significance of sRAGE and esRAGE in IBD.