Genetic polymorphisms of glutathione S-transferases are associated with ulcerative colitis in central China.

The present study aimed to investigate the association between genetic polymorphisms of glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) and susceptibility to ulcerative colitis (UC) in central China. The prevalence of GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1 gene polymorphisms were examined using polymerase chain reaction methods in 270 consecutive UC patients and 623 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. The frequencies of the GSTM1(null) and GSTT1(null) as well as GSTP1 (Val/Val) genotypes were significantly higher in UC patients than in the controls (70.74% vs. 41.74%, P = 0.0001; 64.82% vs. 47.19%, P = 0.0001; and 48.89% vs. 34.35%, P = 0.0004, respectively). When the UC patients were stratified according to clinical features, we found that the frequencies of the GSTT1(null) and GSTP1 (Val/Val) genotypes but not the GSTM1(null) genotype were significantly higher in patients with distal colitis than in extensive colitis (P = 0.0007, P = 0.001, and P = 0.271, respectively). However, these variant GST genotypes were not significantly linked to severity of the disease (P > 0.05). GST variant genotypes are strongly correlated with prevalence and extent but not with severity of UC in the Hubei Han population in central China.