The Number of Tandem Repeats in the Carboxyl-ester lipase (CEL) Gene as a Risk Factor in Alcoholic and Idiopathic Chronic Pancreatitis 

Ragvin A, Fjeld K, Weiss FU, Torsvik J, Aghdassi A, Mayerle J, Simon P, Njølstad PR, Lerch MM, Johansson S, Molven A

BACKGROUND/AIMS The variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) in the last exon of the carboxyl-ester lipase (CEL) gene has been reported to associate with alcohol-induced chronic pancreatitis (ACP) in a Japanese study. Here, we have investigated the association between the number of CEL VNTR repeats and ACP or idiopathic chronic pancreatitis (ICP) in a cohort of German patients.

METHODS Patients diagnosed with ACP (n = 203) or ICP (n = 64) were genotyped using a screening method consisting of PCR followed by DNA fragment analysis. The allele frequencies of different CEL VNTR lengths were compared to the frequencies in healthy controls (n = 390).

RESULTS We observed no statistical significant associations between CEL VNTR allele frequencies and ACP or ICP.

CONCLUSION This study did not find evidence that supported an association between the common length variations of the CEL VNTR and chronic pancreatitis.