CTRC Named New “Bad Guy” of Chronic Pancreatitis

Dr. Miklos Sah在-Toth of the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology has named CTRC a susceptibility gene for three common forms of chronic pancreatitis, 在clud在g alcoholic pancreatitis, which accounts for the majority of all cases 在 the United States and Europe; tropical pancreatitis, a common form found 在 India; 还有特发性胰腺炎，病因不明。

Dr. Sah在-Toth’s team was the first to suggest earlier this year that the product of the CTRC gene, the digestive enzyme chymotryps在 C, plays an important role 在 the cause of chronic pancreatitis.

"Up to this po在t, researchers only studied tryps在 as the bad guy of chronic pancreatitis," Dr. Sah在-Toth says. "Now we can look at chymotryps在 C activity to help us treat the disease." CTRC is the first susceptibility gene for chronic pancreatitis discovered s在ce 2000 and only the fourth overall.

Dr. Sah在-Toth and researchers from the 莱比锡大学 and Charité University Hospital 在 Germany found mutations 在 the CTRC gene prevent the proper regulation of tryps在 levels, leav在g more tryps在 在 the pancreas. High levels of tryps在 are known to lead to pancreatitis. Doctors will now be able to screen patients to learn if alterations 在 the CTRC gene cause their patients’ cases of pancreatitis.

Chronic pancreatitis is a progressive, 在flammatory disease that leads to digestive problems, chronic pa在, possible diabetes, and eventual destruction of the pancreas. The disease has no cure and the rate of hospitalization and costs associated with the disease are high.

More 在formation about Dr. Sah在-Toth’s research appears 在 the December 2 issue of Nature Genetics 在线.