CFTR and/or pancreatitis susceptibility genes mutations as risk factors of pancreatitis in cystic fibrosis patients?

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Currently, factors that promote the occurrence of pancreatitis episodes in patients affected with cystic fibrosis (CF) and pancreatic sufficiency (PS) are largely unknown. METHODS: Six genes involved in pancreatitis or in ion transport into the pancreatic duct were investigated by next generation sequencing in 59 adult CF-PS patients with two identified CF mutations. Data on predisposing environmental factors were also recorded. RESULTS: 19 experienced at least one episode of acute pancreatitis (AP) (AP+) and 40 patients did not (AP-). No influence of environmental factor was evidenced. No specific CFTR genotype was found predictive of pancreatitis. Patients sharing the same CFTR genotype may or may not experience AP episodes. Frequent and rare missense variants were found in 78.9% patients in group AP+ and 67.5% in group AP- but a few of them were pathogenic. CONCLUSIONS: AP or recurrent AP (RAP) is a frequent complication in our series of adult CF-PS patients. The majority of mild CFTR mutations found in group AP+ were located in the first transmembrane region. No clear other genetic factor could be found predictive of AP/RAP. Further experiments in large homogenous cohorts of CF-PS patients, including whole genome sequencing, may identify genetic predisposing factors to pancreatitis.