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 PPARβ/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.