Pancreatic disorders have a high prevalence worldwide. Despite the fact that screening methods became more effective and the knowledge we have nowadays about pancreatic diseases has enhanced, their incidence remains high. Our purpose was to determine whether single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of VEGFR-2/KDR (vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2/kinase insert domain receptor) influences susceptibility to develop pancreatic pathology. Genomic DNA was extracted from blood samples collected from patients diagnosed with acute pancreatitis (n = 110), chronic pancreatitis (n = 25), pancreatic cancer (n = 82) and healthy controls (n = 232). VEGFR-2 (KDR) 604A>G (rs2071559) polymorphism frequency was determined with TaqMan allelic discrimination assays. Statistical assessment was performed by associating genetic polymorphism with clinical and pathological data. In both pancreatic disorders and healthy control groups the polymorphism we studied was in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Association between increased risk for pancreatic disorders and studied polymorphism was statistically significant. KDR 604AG and AG + GG genotypes were more prevalent in acute pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer patients than in controls. These genotypes influence disease development in a low rate. No association was found between chronic pancreatitis and KDR 604AG and AG + GG genotypes. In Romanian cohort, we found an association between the KDR 604A→G polymorphism and acute pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. Carriers of the -604G variant allele were more frequent among acute pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer than among controls, suggesting that KDR 604G allele may confer an increased risk for these diseases. In the future, more extensive studies on larger groups are necessary, in order to clarify the role of VEGFR2 polymorphisms in pancreatic pathology.
Keywords: VEGFR-2; genotype; pancreatic disorders; polymorphism.