ABCG2 and ABCC2 Expression Levels and Their Relationship With Disease Severity in Acute Pancreatitis

The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression levels of ABCG2 and ABCC2, members of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter gene family, in patients with acute pancreatitis and to investigate their potential associations with disease presence as well as clinical and radiological disease severity. This prospective study included 80 patients diagnosed with acute pancreatitis and 96 healthy controls. Disease severity in acute pancreatitis was assessed using the Ranson score and computed tomography (CT) findings. ABCG2 and ABCC2 gene expression levels were measured in peripheral blood samples using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Statistical analyses, including between-group comparisons and evaluations of associations between gene expression and disease severity, were performed using SPSS version 25.0. ABCG2 gene expression levels were significantly lower in patients with acute pancreatitis than in healthy controls (p = 0.025). However, ABCG2 expression was significantly higher in moderate and severe acute pancreatitis cases based on CT findings compared with mild cases (p = 0.038). ABCC2 gene expression showed no significant association with either the presence of acute pancreatitis or disease severity. In ROC analysis, the area under the curve (AUC) for ABCG2 gene expression was statistically significant (AUC = 0.598, p = 0.025). This study suggests that ABCG2 gene expression may be associated with the presence of acute pancreatitis and radiological disease severity. ABCG2 may represent a dynamically regulated candidate biomarker related to inflammatory and cellular stress processes in acute pancreatitis. Further studies including larger patient cohorts and preferably multicenter designs are needed to validate these findings.