Protective Role of Selenium-Binding Protein 1 (SELENBP1) in Patients with Ulcerative Colitis.

BACKGROUND

The expression of selenium-binding protein 1 (SELENBP1), a molecule responsible for the absorption of selenium in the colon, is crucial for its immunoregulatory effect, but this phenomenon has not been studied in patients with UC. The present study aimed to determine the clinical outcome of SELENBP1 expression in colonic tissue from patients with UC.

METHODS

The relative mRNA expression of SELENBP1 was analyzed in 34 patients with UC and 20 controls. Statistical analyses were performed with SPSS 19.

RESULTS

SELENBP1 gene expression was significantly lower in patients with active UC than those with UC in remission ( = 0.003) and within the controls ( = 0.04). Overexpression of the SELENBP1 gene was associated with a more benign clinical course characterized by initial activity and more than two years of prolonged remission (OR 23.7, = 0.003) and an intermittent clinical course (OR 47.5, = 0.001), mild histological activity (OR 0.11; 95% CI: 1.00-1.41, = 0.05) and severe histological activity (OR 0.08, 95% CI: 0.008-0.866, = 0.02). SELENBP1-positive cells were found mainly in the submucosa's inflammatory infiltrate and muscular and adventitia's internal layers from patients with active UC compared to those in the control group ( ≤ 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The upregulation of SELENBP1 was associated with a benign clinical course of UC. This is the first report suggesting the immunoregulatory role of SELENBP1 in patients with UC.