%0 Journal Article
%T An increased Bax/Bcl
%A Alireza Mirzaei
%A Azade Amini Kadijani
%A Dario Sorrentino
%A Hamid Asadzadeh Aghdaei
%A Hedieh Balaii
%A Marco Geraci
%A Mohammad Reza Zali
%A Shabnam Shahrokh
%J United European Gastroenterology Journal
%@ 2050-6414
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/2050640618774637
%X Predicting the response of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients to infliximab (IFX) is an unmet clinical need. The expression and density of transmembrane tumor necrosis factor-¦Á in circulating leukocytes maybe directly related to response by promoting apoptosis. We tested the hypothesis that direct apoptosis assessment by real-time polymerase chain reaction evaluation of pro-apoptotic (Bax) and anti-apoptotic (Bcl-2) proteins in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) might be associated with response to IFX. IFX na£¿ve patients (Crohn¡¯s disease, 32 and ulcerative colitis, 20; 35 responders and 17 non-responders) were evaluated for Bax and Bcl-2 mRNA expression levels before and 2 weeks after the first infusion. In a subset of patients, apoptosis was also evaluated using flow cytometry. After the first infusion, Bax increased more in responders than in non-responders (0.7¡À£¿0.38 vs 0.81£¿¡À£¿0.32 and 0.86£¿¡À£¿0.37 vs 0.87£¿¡À£¿0.45, respectively, p£¿=£¿0.071). Bcl-2 decreased more in responders than in non-responders (0.71£¿¡À£¿0.12 vs 0.63£¿¡À£¿0.13 and 0.81£¿¡À£¿0.28 vs 0.77£¿¡À£¿0.27, respectively, p£¿=£¿0.038). The Bax/Bcl-2 ratio increased more in responders than in non-responders (0.99£¿¡À£¿0.5 vs 1.3£¿¡À£¿0.51 and 1.03£¿¡À£¿0.17 vs 1.1£¿¡À£¿0.28, respectively, p£¿=£¿0.005). The Bax/Bcl-2 ratio was able to predict response in 33/52 patients and was correlated to flow cytometry-assessed apoptosis (r£¿=£¿0.911; p£¿<£¿0.001). An increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio in PBMCs was associated with therapeutic response to IFX in IBD patients
%K Apoptosis
%K inflammatory bowel diseases
%K infliximab
%K therapeutic response
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2050640618774637