The number of tandem repeats in the carboxyl-ester lipase (CEL) gene as a risk factor in alcoholic and idiopathic chronic pancreatitis

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.