Expression And Clinical Significance Of Estrogen Receptor In Terminal Ileum Mucosa Of Patients With Crohn's Disease

Background and ObjectiveCrohn's disease(CD)is a chronic inflammatory disease with unknown etiology.It has complex clinical manifestations,difficult diagnosis and poor clinical treatment.The recurrence and remission of symptoms in CD patients are associated with changes in hormones,such as in puberty,pregnancy,postpartum and menopause,reflecting that oestrogen and its receptor might play an important role in CD.The research aimed to investigate the expression and clinical significance of estrogen receptor in patients with CD.MethodsA retrospective study was performed in terminal ileum samples from 37 patients with CD and 21 healthy volunteers(controls)visiting the Department of Gastroenterology,Zhongda Hospital,from 2013 to 2017.CD patients were classified according to the Montreal classification and disease activity was assessed by Harvey-Bradshow Crohn's disease activity index(Harvey-Bradshow CDAI).Expression of estrogen receptor alpha(ER?)and estrogen receptor beta(ER?)was determined by immunohistochemistry.Results1.Expression of ER? was negative for all cases.2.Expression of ER? was significantly decreased in patients with CD involving the terminal ileum compared with healthy controls(P=0.001)and was negatively correlated with the disease activity index(r=-0.478,P=0.003).3.Expression of ER? had no correlation with sex,age of onset,localization,perianal disease or extraintestinal manifestations(P values were all more than 0.05),but was related to disease behaviour and disease activity(P values were 0.003,0.002,respectively).Conclusion:A reduction of ER? expression in patients with CD was found,and ER?expression had a negative correlation with the disease activity index.ER? might be a predictor of CD activity and a new target for further study in CD endocrine therapy.