Autoantibodies to GP2, the major zymogen granule membrane glycoprotein, are new markers in Crohn's disease

Background: Crohn's disease (CD) is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) characterized by reactivity against microbial and self antigens. Zymogen granule glycoprotein 2 (GP2) was identified as the major autoantigen of CD-specific pancreatic autoantibodies (PAB). Methods: Human GP2 was expressed in the Spodoptera frugiperda 9 (Sf9) cell line using the baculovirus system, purified by Ni-chelate chromatography, and used as antigen for anti-GP2 IgA and IgG assessment by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). Antibodies to mannan of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ASCA). PAB, and anti-GP2 were investigated in sera of 178 CD patients, 100 ulcerative colitis (UC) patients, and 162 blood donors (BD). Results: Anti-GP2 IgG and IgA were found in 48/72 (66.7%) and 23/72 (31.9%) PAB positive and 5/106 (4.7%) and 1/106 (0.9%) PAB negative CD patients (p < 0.0001), respectively. CD patients displayed significantly higher reactivity to GP2 than UC patients and BD (p < 0.0001), respectively. Occurrence of anti-GP2 antibodies correlated with PAB reactivity (Spearmen's rho = 0.493, p < 0.00001). There was a significant relationship between the occurrence of ASCA IgG and anti-GP2 IgG (p=0.0307). Conclusions: Anti-GP2 IgG and IgA constitute novel CD specific autoantibodies, the quantification of which could improve the serological diagnosis of IBD. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.