mRNA and small RNA associated with Crohn's disease behavior [ncRNA-Seq]

There is a need for reliable prognostic markers that can guide therapeutic intervention in Crohn’s disease (CD). We examined whether different behavioral phenotypes in CD can be classified based on colonic miRNA or mRNA expression and if miRNAs have prognostic utility for CD. We perform high-throughput sequencing of small RNA and mRNA isolated from colon tissue from CD patients and non-IBD (NIBD) controls. To identify miRNA and genes associated with specific behavioral phenotypes of CD, patients were stratified according to disease behavior (non-stricturing, non-penetrating; stricturing; penetrating) and compared miRNA profiles in each class with those of the NIBD group. Using a novel statistical simulation approach applied to colonic RNA-seq data for CD patients and NIBD controls, we identify at drivers of gene expression profiles associated with CD. Macroscopically non-inflamed colon tissue from characterized Crohn's disease patients and normal controls were obtained. Small RNA-seq and RNA-seq were performed on these samples. Additionally, we investigated the effect of inflammation on miRNA expression by performing small RNA-seq on matched colon samples obtained from macroscopically inflamed regions from a subset (six) of these patients with CD.