Association of Heat-Shock Protein Gene Polymorphisms with Disease Severity in Acute Pancreatitis

Background: Severe acute pancreatitis is the result of a cytokine storm induced by pancreatic inflammation. Mutations in the heat-shock protein 70 (HSP70) gene can induce excessive cytokine secretion in the context of inflammation. We undertook this study to determine whether common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the HSP70 gene were associated with severe acute pancreatitis. Methods: One hundred and twenty-seven consecutive patients with acute pancreatitis admitted to the hospital were evaluated and followed up for clinical outcomes. DNA from venous blood was extracted, and the following SNPs were genotyped – rs1061581 (HSPA1B), rs2227956 (HSPA1 L), rs1008438 (HSPA1A), and rs1043618 (HSPA1A). Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism was used for genotyping at the first two loci, while allele-specific polymerase chain reaction was used to genotype the two latter SNPs. Results: None of the four hP70 gene polymorphisms that were studied showed any significant difference between acute mild and acute severe pancreatitis. However, the T allele in rs2227956 showed a trend to association with severe pancreatitis (P = 0.08), as did the TT genotype (0.09). Conclusion: HSP70 gene polymorphisms did not significantly associate with the severity of illness in acute pancreatitis.