Colon and RectumNOD2 gene variant is a risk factor for postoperative complications in patients with Crohn's disease: A genetic association study

BackgroundPostoperative complications are relatively frequent in Crohn's disease (CD) and several risk factors have been identified. The influence of genetic factors, however is unknown.MethodsCD patients who underwent CD-related bowel resection were identified from the “Nancy IBD cohort.” Postoperative complications were defined as intraabdominal infectious complications and non-intraabdominal infectious complications occurring within 90 days after operation. The influence of 203 single nucleotide polymorphisms on postoperative complication rates was analyzed.ResultsOf the 137 patients who had undergone a CD-related bowel resection in our cohort, postoperative complications occurred in 34 cases (24.8%). Postoperative intraabdominal infections occurred in 18 cases (13.1%): 12 had anastomotic leakage and 6 had intraabdominal abscesses. In multivariate analysis, current smoker status (odds ratio [OR], 2.71; 95% CI, 1.18-6.21; P = .02) and homozygosity for the risk allele (T) Nucleotide-binding Oligomerization Domain-containing protein 2 (rs5743289; NOD2; OR, 2.07 [95% CI 1.15-3.72]; P = .01) were independent risk factors of postoperative intraabdominal infectious complications. Current smoker status NOD2 homozygosity for the risk allele (T) were not associated with non-intraabdominal infectious complications.ConclusionCurrent smoker status was associated with increased risk of postoperative intraabdominal infectious complications. A novel association between the NOD2 allele and an increased risk of postoperative intraabdominal infectious complications was observed in this study.