Genome-wide gene expression analysis for target genes to differentiate patients with intestinal tuberculosis and Crohn’s disease

This study aimed at genome-wide gene expression analysis of colonic biopsies from confirmed cases of intestinal tuberculosis (ITB) and Crohn's disease (CD) in comparison to controls. Further, to evaluate the role of T regulatory cells, Foxp3 mRNA expression was quantified in serum as well as colonic biopsies of patients with intestinal tuberculosis, Crohn's disease and controls. Paired samples, i.e. serum and colonic biopsies, were taken from 33 study subjects, which included patients with ITB and CD, and controls. RNA extraction was done and stringent quality checks performed. Human whole genome gene expression microarray analysis was performed on the Illumina HumanWG-6 Bead Chip with six total RNA samples of the 3 groups in duplicates. Real-time PCR for FOXP3 mRNA expression was analyzed in serum samples (4-CD, 5-ITB, 4-controls) and colonic biopsy samples (4-CD, 5-ITB, 4-controls).