TNFSF15 is an independent predictor for the development of Crohn's disease-related complications in Koreans.

BACKGROUND Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease involving the whole gastrointestinal tract. TNFSF15 has been proved as a susceptibility gene for CD, but there are few reports about the association between TNFSF15 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the clinical course of CD. AIM To investigate the association between TNFSF15 genotypes and the clinical course of CD in Koreans. METHODS A total of 906 CD patients having TNFSF15 genotype data and clinical information were recruited from CD registry database of a tertiary referral center. The association between five TNFSF15 SNPs (rs4574921, rs3810936, rs6478108, rs6478109, and rs7848647) and various clinical parameters including stricture, non-perianal penetrating complications, bowel resection, and reoperation was investigated. RESULTS Among the five SNPs, rs6478108 CC genotype was associated with the development of stricture and non-perianal penetrating complications during follow-up (HR for stricture=1.706, 95% confidence interval 1.178-2.471, P=0.005; HR for non-perianal penetrating complications=1.667, 95% confidence interval 1.127-2.466, P=0.010), and rs4574921 CC genotype was associated with the development of perianal fistula (HR=2.386, 95% confidence interval 1.204-4.727, P=0.013) by multivariate analysis. However, there was no significant association of cumulative operation and reoperation rate with 5 SNPs of TNFSF15. CONCLUSION In Korean patients with CD, non-risk allele homozygotes of TNFSF15 SNPs rs6478108 and rs4574921 are independent genetic predictive factors for the development of strictures/non-perianal penetrating complications and perianal fistula, respectively.