Effect of ceramide-1-phosphate transfer protein on intestinal bacterial translocation in severe acute pancreatitis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of ceramide-1-phosphate transfer protein (CPTP) on the intestinal epithelial tight junction proteins in patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP).

METHODS: Fifty patients with SAP were classified into two groups according to the presence of bacterial translocation (BT) in the blood. Thirty healthy individuals were included in the control group. The presence of BT was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction. The expression of tight junction proteins and CPTP was determined using immunohistochemistry and western blotting.

RESULTS: Bacterial DNA was detected in the peripheral blood of 62.0% of the patients with SAP. The expression of CPTP and tight junction proteins in SAP patients was lower than that in healthy controls. Among the patients with SAP, those positive for BT(+) showed a lower level of CPTP and occluding (OC) and zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) expression and a higher level of IVA cPLA2 expression than BT(-) patients. Moreover, the expression of CPTP was significantly associated with ZO-1 and showed a negative correlation with expression of IVA cPLA2 in SAP-BT(+) patients.

CONCLUSIONS: CPTP affects the expression of tight junction proteins and may protects the intestinal epithelial barrier by downregulating the expression of IVA cPLA2.