Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors family is involved in the response to treatment and mild clinical course in patients with ulcerative colitis.

BACKGROUND: PPARs play an important role in the regulation of intestinal inflammation. METHODS: We included a total of 46 UC patients and 31 controls. The gene expression of PPARs was measured by RT-PCR and protein expression by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: PPARα gene expression was significantly decreased in patients with active UC compared with remission UC group (P = 0.001) and controls (P = 0.001). We found that low gene expression of PPARα in mucosa confers a higher risk of UC activity (P ≤ 0.0001, OR = 22.6). We observed an increase of PPARα expression in patients with UC who were treated with 5-aminosalicylates compared with those who received any other combined therapy (P = 0.03, OR = 0.08). PPARγ gene expression was decreased in the active UC group compared with UC in remission (P = 0.001) and control group (P = 0.001). An increased expression of PPARγ gene was associated with mild clinical course of the disease (P ≤ 0.001, OR = 0.05). No gene expression of PPARß/δ was found in the colonic mucosa from UC patients and controls. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that patients with high gene expression of PPARs have a better response to medical treatment and a mild clinical course of the disease.