P018 Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are significantly increased in patients with late-onset of ulcerative colitis
F. Fart1, S. Salihovic1,2, A. McGlinchey1, M. Orešič1,3, J. Halfvarson4, T. Hyötyläinen2, I. Schoultz1
1School of Medical Sciences, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden, 2School of Science and Technology, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden, 3Turku Bioscience Centre, University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland, 4Department of Gastroenterology, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
Background
Environmental factors have been implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), particularly late onset disease. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are man-made chemicals with a long biological half-life that have been extensively used since the 1950s and have been proposed to interfere with the bile acid synthesis. Therefore, to investigate if late onset IBD correlates with higher PFAS levels, we measured serum levels of PFAS and bile acids in patients diagnosed with IBD later in life.
Methods
Serum samples were collected from patients diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (
Results
The total amount of PFAS was significantly higher in patients with ulcerative colitis compared with healthy controls (
Conclusion
Our results demonstrate that PFAS levels are increased in patients with late-onset of ulcerative colitis compared with Crohn’s disease patients and healthy controls. This finding indicates that PFAS might represent an environmental risk factor for ulcerative colitis. However, additional studies assessing the functional consequences of increased PFAS in late-onset ulcerative colitis are required to confirm this hypothesis.