Redox imbalance in Crohn's disease patients is modulated by Azathioprine

Background Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory disease without a specific cause. Inflammation in these patients can disturb the oxidants/antioxidants balance and results in oxidative stress that plays a destructive role. This study aimed to evaluate the gene expression of sod1, sod2, cat, nrf2 and gp91phox in CD patients before and after Azathioprine (Aza) consumption. Method Peripheral bloodmononuclear cells (PBMCs) were separated from CD patients (n= 15, mean age = 33.6 +/- 1.8) before and after treatment with Aza and healthy controls (n= 15, mean age = 31.5 +/- 1.2). The expression levels of sod1, sod2, cat, nrf2 and gp91phox were measured in byusing real-time qRT-PCR technique. Result The expression levels of gp91phox (P-value < 0.001), cat (P-value < 0.05), sod1 (P-value < 0.001), nrf2 (P-value < 0.001) were significantly increased compared to control group. Following treatment with Aza, the decreased expression levels of gp91phox (P-value < 0.05), cat (P-value < 0.05), sod1(P-value < 0.001) and nrf2 (P-value < 0.001) were observed in CD patients. Conclusion Overall, our results showed that prescription of Azathioprine can lead to the altered expression of redox system-related genes in patients with CD.