Gene expression of tumor necrosis factor receptor associated-factor (TRAF)-1 and TRAF-2 in inflammatory bowel disease.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the expression of tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor (TRAF)-1 and TRAF-2 in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). METHODS: Immunostaining, western blot and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were used to detect the expression of TRAF-1 and TRAF-2 in colonic mucosa of IBD patients and control. Furthermore, serum protein levels of TRAF-1 and TRAF-2 were measured by ELISA and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine their diagnostic value. RESULTS: The expression of TRAF-1 and TRAF-2 was significantly higher in inflamed and non-inflamed tissues of IBD patients than those in control (P < 0.05). Moreover, inflamed tissues had higher TRAF-1 and TRAF-2 expression than non-inflamed tissues (P < 0.05). Both TRAF-1 and TRAF-2 were shown to have a fair to excellent value in the differentiation of control and IBD patients with the area under the ROC curve (AUROC) of 0.680-1.000 (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The activation of TRAF-1 and TRAF-2 may be early events in the pathogenesis of IBD and their functions are not quite the same.