Differential expression of Fatty Acid Binding Proteins (FABPs) in celiac disease

GARCIA M; BOTTASSO N; BONDAR C; CORSICO B; CHIRDO F.G

Darmstadt

Simposio; 27th Meeting of the European Working Group in Prolamin Analysis and Toxicity; 2014

European Working Group in Prolamin Analysis and Toxicity

Fatty acid binding proteins (FABPs) belong to a family of small cytosolic proteins. FABPs bind and transport long chain fatty acids but also have important roles in signalling pathways, particularly those related to Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptors (PPAR) which link lipid metabolism and inflammatory process. There are nine isoforms which are differentially expressed in distinct tissues. Intestinal and liver FABPs (I- and L-FABP, respectively) are abundantly expressed in the epithelium of the small intestine. Particularly, their expression was reported primarily restricted to fully differentiated epithelial cells. Expression of L- and I-FABP has been evaluated in small and large intestine by immunofluorescence. In the gestational period as well as in adult tissues L-FABP staining was detected in the upper half of the villi along the whole small intestine, while the expression was barely detected in the lower half of the villi and in the crypt. On the other hand, I-FABP staining was visualized in intestinal epithelial cells in the villi and in the crypts in both fetal and adult jejunum. Severe changes at the intestinal mucosa (villus atrophy, crypt hyperplasia and lymphocytic infiltration) are characteristically observed in untreated Celiac Disease (CD) patients. These histological changes are linked to changes in the level and the pattern of expression of different genes. Though there are reports describing the expression of L- and I-FABPs in normal small intestine, their expression was not evaluated in CD enteropathy. In addition, higher levels of I-FABP in serum were found in untreated CD patients compared with non celiac controls. Remarkably, Adriaanse MP. et al. [10] reported that the concentration of I-FABP in serum correlates with the severity of the histological changes. Moreover, determination of circulating I-FABP seems a useful complementary determination to monitor the adherence to gluten-free diet. The aim of this work was to assess the expression of L- and I-FABP by quantitative PCR in normal small intestine and in active Celiac Disease as well as to evaluate the determination of I-FABP as biomarker for active CD.