Association between heme oxygenase-1 (HMOX1) gene polymorphism and chronic pancreatitis

Aim: To investigate the association of the heme oxygenase-1 (HMOX1) gene polymorphism rs2071746 and chronic pancreatitis in the Azerbaijani population.Methods: From a period of 2014–2019, 70 patients with different types of chronic pancreatitis and 90 apparently healthy volunteers were observed. Of them, 55 subjects were consuming alcohol at least 3–4 times a week, with an average daily dose of >80 g/L, and 35 subjects were not consuming alcohol. The venous blood samples were collected from the control subjects and patients with pancreatitis; DNA was extracted and analyzed by polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism.Results: The A allele in the homozygous form (A/A genotype) was found to be more common in patients with chronic pancreatitis (42.9%) than in the control group (16.6%). Thus, the A allele in the homozygous form (A/A genotype) may be associated with the development of chronic pancreatitis (odd ratio [OR] = 3.75; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.81–7.77; p = 0.000). Furthermore, a statistical correlation between the A allele of the 495 A>T polymorphism (rs2071746) and an increased risk of the disease was observed. (p = 0.02, OR = 1.73; 95% CI 1.09–2.74). The heterozygous form of the A allele (A/T genotype; OR = 0.27; 95% CI = 0.13–0.56) and the T allele of the HMOX1 −495 A>T (rs2071746) polymorphism (OR = 0.53; 95% CI 0.32–0.89) reduced the risk of developing chronic alcoholic pancreatitis (p = 0.000 and p = 0.017, respectively).Conclusion: The identification of genetic association of the various types of chronic pancreatitis will encourage further research on HMOX1, drug development, or the use of hemin in clinical practice.