Role of tight junction proteins in gastroesophageal reflux disease

BMC Gastroenterology

Table 5 Correlation between GERD-specific histopathological alterations and gene expression level of tight junction-related genes (transcript level)

Panel A: All samples	Occludin	Claudin-1	Claudin-2	ZO-1	ZO-2
Activity	n.s.	r = 0.23	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.
Activity		P = 0.07
Chronicity	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.
Basal cell hyperplasia	n.s.	r = 0.19	r = 0.21	r = 0.22	n.s.
Basal cell hyperplasia		P = 0.05	P = 0.04	P = 0.03
Elongation of papilla	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.
Dilated intercellular space	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.
Panel B: Basal cell hyperplasia	*Occludin*	*Claudin-1*	*Claudin-2*	*ZO-1*	*ZO-2*
Controls	r = 0.47	n.s.	n.s.	r = 0.36	r = 0.42
Controls	P = 0.02			P = 0.08	P = 0.04
NERD	r = 0.36	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.
NERD	P = 0.03
ERD	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.
GERD (ERD + NERD)	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.

Panel A: The histopathological scores (Table 3) were correlated with gene expression levels (transcript levels, Table 4) for each gene individually in the combined study cohort (n = 110). Data (r-, and P-values) represent potential correlations between these parameters (n.s. = not significant). Panel B: Since basal cell hyperplasia demonstrated significant correlations in global analysis (Panel A), this parameter was further analyzed by correlating expression values for all five genes with basal cell hyperplasia within each group and for patients with GERD individually as identified in table.

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