Is a rare CXCL8 gene variant a new possible cause or curse factor of inflammatory bowel disease?

Introduction: The pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) involves genetic, environmental, immunological, and microbial factors; however, it remains unclear. Pro-inflammatory interleukin 8 (IL-8), encoded by the CXCL8 gene, assumes a crucial chemotactic role in leukocyte migration.

Methods: This study aimed to investigate whether an association exists between IBD and two CXCL8 variants, namely, c.-251A>T (rs4073) and c.91G>T (rs188378669), and IL-8 concentration. We analyzed the distribution of both variants among 353 Polish IBD patients and 200 population subjects using pyrosequencing, competitive allele-specific PCR and Sanger sequencing.

Results: The c.91T stop-gained allele was significantly more frequent in IBD patients (2.12%) than in controls (0.25%) (p = 0.0121), while the c.-251T allele frequencies were similar (54% vs. 51.5%, p = 0.4955). Serum IL-8 concentrations, measured using ELISA, were higher in IBD patients with the c.91 GG genotype compared to healthy controls (mean, 70.02 vs. 51.5 pg/ml, p<0.01) and patients with c.91 GT (mean, 61.73 pg/ml). Moreover, clinical data indicated that carriers of the c.91T variant need more often corticosteroids and surgical treatment of the disease than GG homozygous IBD patients.

Conclusion: This suggest that the CXCL8 c.91T allele may influence IBD manifestation and the course of the disorders in Polish patients, potentially serving as a novel target for future studies and therapeutic approaches.