Clinical Trials Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Mar 7, 2024; 30(9): 1132-1142
Published online Mar 7, 2024. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v30.i9.1132
Melanocortin 3,5 receptors immunohistochemical expression in colonic mucosa of inflammatory bowel disease patients: A matter of disease activity?
Antonietta Gerarda Gravina, Iacopo Panarese, Maria Consiglia Trotta, Michele D'Amico, Raffaele Pellegrino, Franca Ferraraccio, Marilena Galdiero, Roberto Alfano, Paolo Grieco, Alessandro Federico
Antonietta Gerarda Gravina, Raffaele Pellegrino, Alessandro Federico, Hepatogastroenterology Division, Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples 80138, Italy
Iacopo Panarese, Franca Ferraraccio, Pathology Division, Department of Mental and Physical Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples 80138, Italy
Maria Consiglia Trotta, Michele D'Amico, Marilena Galdiero, Department of Experimental Medicine, Division of Pharmacology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples 80138, Italy
Roberto Alfano, Department of Advanced Medical and Surgical Sciences (DAMSS), University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples 80138, Italy
Paolo Grieco, Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, Naples 80131, Italy
Author contributions: Gravina AG, Panarese I, and Trotta MC were responsible for literature collection, initial manuscript writing, conceptualization of tables and figures, and made equal contributions to this work; the analysis was conducted by Gravina AG, Panarese I, Trotta MC, Panarese I, and Pellegrino R; all authors contributed to the conceptualization of the text's structure, critically reviewed the manuscript for significant intellectual content, and read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Ethics Committee of University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli (Protocol code 795 on December 23, 2019).
Clinical trial registration statement: This study has been assigned the protocol code “AOU 26599/19” in the Luigi Vanvitelli University Hospital's records.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
CONSORT 2010 statement: The authors have read the CONSORT 2010 Statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CONSORT 2010 Statement.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Raffaele Pellegrino, MD, Hepatogastroenterology Division, Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Via L. de Crecchio, Naples 80138, Italy. raffaele.pellegrino@unicampania.it
Received: December 21, 2023
Peer-review started: December 21, 2023
First decision: January 13, 2024
Revised: January 15, 2024
Accepted: February 8, 2024
Article in press: February 8, 2024
Published online: March 7, 2024
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Melanocortin 3 and 5 receptors (i.e., MC3R and MC5R) belong to the melanocortin family. However, data regarding their role in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are currently unavailable.

AIM

This study aims to ascertain their expression profiles in the colonic mucosa of Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), aligning them with IBD disease endoscopic and histologic activity.

METHODS

Colonic mucosal biopsies from CD/UC patients were sampled, and immunohistochemical analyses were conducted to evaluate the expression of MC3R and MC5R. Colonic sampling was performed on both traits with endoscopic scores (Mayo endoscopic score and CD endoscopic index of severity) consistent with inflamed mucosa and not consistent with disease activity (i.e., normal appearing mucosa).

RESULTS

In both CD and UC inflamed mucosa, MC3R (CD: + 7.7 fold vs normal mucosa, P < 0.01; UC: + 12 fold vs normal mucosa, P < 0.01) and MC5R (CD: + 5.5 fold vs normal mucosa, P < 0.01; UC: + 8.1 fold vs normal mucosa, P < 0.01) were significantly more expressed compared to normal mucosa.

CONCLUSION

MC3R and MC5R are expressed in the colon of IBD patients. Furthermore, expression may differ according to disease endoscopic activity, with a higher degree of expression in the traits affected by disease activity in both CD and UC, suggesting a potential use of these receptors in IBD pharmacology.

Keywords: Melanocortin 3 receptor, Melanocortin 5 receptor, Ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, Inflammatory bowel disease

Core Tip: This study sought to examine the expression levels of Melanocortin 3 and 5 receptors (MC3R and MC5R) in the colons of individuals diagnosed with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Analysis of tissue samples obtained from both inflamed and non-inflamed sections of the colon revealed a notable increase in the expression of both receptors within inflamed regions compared to non-inflamed areas, with the extent of expression suggesting a potential association with the severity of disease activity. These findings imply that MC3R and MC5R may serve as potential targets for pharmacological interventions in the context of inflammatory bowel diseases.