Analysis of the REG1α and REG1β gene transcripts in patients with fibrocalculous pancreatopathy

Abstract

Fibrocalculous pancreatopathy is a form of diabetes, associated with tropical chronic calcific pancreatitis, in which islet β-cell loss and pancreatic stone formation are found. It is likely to be a multifactorial disease with both genetic and environmental components. Regenerating (reg) gene encodes protein that has been involved in pancreatic lithogenesis and the regeneration of islet cells and therefore the abnormality of reg genes could be associated with fibrocalculous pancreatopathy. In this study, reg1α, and reg1β mRNAs were isolated from peripheral blood lymphocytes obtained from 16 patients with fibrocalculous pancreatopathy, 42 patients with type 1 diabetes, 37 patients with type 2 diabetes, and 22 normal controls. mRNAs were amplified by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and analysed by a single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) technique. The reg1α and reg1β mRNAs were isolated, indicating the ectopic expression of these genes in peripheral blood lymphocytes; however, variation among mobility patterns was not observed in the SSCP analysis of the RT-PCR products. The results indicated that there was no abnormality of the reg1α and reg1β mRNAs obtained from the study groups.