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Serum protein profiling of adults and children with Crohn disease
Anna Vaiopoulou1, Maria Gazouli, Aggeliki Papadopoulou
1*Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Laboratory of Biology, School of Medicine, University of Athens †Proteomics Research Unit, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens (IIBEAA) ‡Gastroenterology Unit, 2 Department of Surgery, "Aretaieio" University Hospital," Athens §First Propaedeutic Surgical Department, Hippocration University Hospital, University of Athens, Athens, Greece ||Department of Biochemistry and Cancer Biology, Meharry Medical College School of Medicine, Nashville, TN.
Insights
This study identified distinct protein biomarkers in adults and children with Crohn disease (CD). Clusterin was elevated in adults, while ceruloplasmin and apolipoprotein B-100 were higher in children, suggesting different disease mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Proteomics
- Biomarker Discovery
- Gastroenterology
Background:
- Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), including Crohn disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), are chronic conditions with unknown causes.
- Validated pediatric biomarkers for IBD are scarce, and adult biomarkers are often applied to children despite differing disease pathogenesis.
- There is a need for specific biomarkers to improve the diagnosis and prognosis of pediatric CD.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate differences in protein expression between adult and pediatric patients with CD using proteomics.
- To identify potential protein biomarkers for improving prognostic-diagnostic accuracy in CD.
- To advance medical care for pediatric CD patients.
Main Methods:
- Serum samples from 12 adults and 12 children with active CD were analyzed using 2D gel electrophoresis.
- Differential protein expression was quantified by densitometry.
- Protein identification was performed using mass spectrometry, with results confirmed by Western blot analysis.
Main Results:
- Clusterin showed significant overexpression in adult CD patients.
- Ceruloplasmin and apolipoprotein B-100 were significantly overexpressed in pediatric CD patients.
- These findings suggest distinct protein expression patterns in adult versus pediatric CD.
Conclusions:
- Differential protein expression exists between adult and pediatric CD patients.
- Candidate biomarkers identified may aid in distinguishing CD in different age groups.
- Further research with larger cohorts is necessary to validate these preliminary findings.
Objectives:
Crohn disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), known collectively as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), are chronic immunoinflammatory pathologies of unknown aetiology. Despite the frequent use of biomarkers in medical practice, there is a relative lack of information regarding validated paediatric biomarkers for IBD. Furthermore, biomarkers proved to be efficacious in adults are frequently extrapolated to the paediatric clinical setting without considering that the pathogenesis of many diseases is distinctly different in children. In the present study, proteomics technology was used to monitor differences in protein expression among adult and young patients with CD, identify a panel of candidate protein biomarkers that may be used to improve prognostic-diagnostic accuracy, and advance paediatric medical care.
Methods:
Male and female serum samples from 12 adults and 12 children with active CD were subjected to 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Following the relative quantitation of protein spots exhibiting a differential expression between the 2 groups by densitometry, the spots were further characterized by matrix-assisted laser desorption tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The results were confirmed by Western blot analysis.
Results:
Clusterin was found to be significantly overexpressed in adults with CD, whereas ceruloplasmin and apolipoprotein B-100 were found to be significantly overexpressed in children, indicating that the expression of these proteins may be implicated in the onset or progression of CD in these 2 subgroups of patients.
Conclusions:
Interestingly, we found a differential expression of several proteins in adults versus paediatric patients with CD. Undoubtedly, future experiments using a larger cohort of patients with CD are needed to evaluate the relevance of our preliminary findings.
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