Urinary potassium is a potential biomarker of disease activity in Ulcerative colitis and displays in vitro immunotolerant role

Abstract

We evaluated the in-vitro effect of potassium on CD4+ T cells and the role of urinary potassium as a potential biomarker of disease activity in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). This prospective observational cohort study included healthy controls (n = 18) and UC patients [n = 30, median age: 40 (IQR: 28–46) years, 17 males)] with active disease(assessed by Mayo score) from September 2015–May 2016. Twenty-four hours urinary potassium along with fecal calprotectin (FCP) were estimated in UC patients (at baseline and follow-up after 3–6 months) and controls. In healthy volunteers, we also assessed the effect of potassium on CD4+ T cells differentiated in the presence of Th17 polarizing condition. UC patients had significantly higher FCP (368.2 ± 443.04 vs 12.44 ± 27.51, p < 0.001) and significantly lower urinary potassium (26.6 ± 16.9 vs 46.89 ± 35.91, p = 0.01) levels than controls. At follow-up, a significant increase in urinary potassium among patients who had clinical response [n = 22, 21.4 (14.4–39.7) to 36.5 (20.5–61.6), p = 0.04] and remission [n = 12, 18.7 (9.1–34.3) to 36.5 (23.4–70.5), p = 0.05] was accompanied with a parallel decline in FCP. On in-vitro analysis, potassium under Th17 polarizing conditions significantly inhibited IL-17 and interferon- expression while favoring the induction of FoxP3+ T cells. Therefore, urinary potassium levels are inversely associated with disease activity in UC with in-vitro data supporting an immune-tolerant role of potassium.

Repressive epigenetic mechanisms, such as the H3K27me3 histone modification, were predicted to affect muscle gene expression and its mineral content in Nelore cattle

“…In a sense, our enrichment analysis, confirms a link between epigenetic repression, development and regulatory proteins, in adult tissues, that is vastly discussed in the literature [ 29 ]. Of note, the complement cascade pathway was enriched for K. This pathway can act on inflammation, a process that can be suppressed by K [ 32 ].…”

Potassium Levels in COVID Subjects: Current Observations and New Possibilities for its use in COVID Diagnosis

“…A recent study linked potassium with irritable bowel syndrome and showed that dietary potassium, was inversely correlated with risk of Crohn's disease in two large prospective cohorts of US women [40]. The levels of potassium had an inverse association with the disease activity in state of inflammation [41]. Hypokalemia is reported in several rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients [42], which are reported to alleviate pain due to RA through diets rich in potassium.…”