Abstract
BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), encompassing Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), are chronic inflammatory disorders of the gastrointestinal tract with increasing global incidence. This meta-analysis aims to systematically evaluate the relationship between ATP-binding cassette subfamily B member 1 (ABCB1) rs2032582 polymorphism and IBD susceptibility. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted across Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, Google Scholar, Wanfang, and CNKI databases to identify eligible case-control studies published up to March 2025. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated under multiple genetic models to assess the association between ABCB1 rs2032582 and IBD. Subgroup analyses were performed based on ethnicity and disease type. Heterogeneity was evaluated using the Q test and I(2) statistics, and publication bias was assessed using Egger's test and Begg's funnel plot. We utilized data from SNPedia ( https://www.snpedia.com/ ) to illustrate the distribution of the ABCB1 rs2032582 polymorphism across diverse populations. The mRNA expression levels of ABCB1 in IBD tissues were analyzed using the IBDTransDB database ( https://abbviegrc.shinyapps.io/ibdtransdb/ ). RESULTS: A total of 19 publications comprising 31 study subgroups (some studies provided the data for both UC and CD subgroups) were included, encompassing 6,721 IBD cases and 8,155 healthy controls. In the overall analysis, ABCB1 rs2032582 polymorphism was significantly associated with IBD in specific populations. Subgroup analysis revealed a significant association in Asian and African populations, particularly in CD, while no significant association was found in Caucasian populations. The allelic model and recessive model showed significant associations with IBD in Asian and African populations (P < 0.05). Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of the findings, and no significant publication bias was detected. The ABCB1 rs2032582 polymorphism shows different distribution across ethnic groups, with the potentially harmful homozygosity for the mutant allele present in 30.4% of Asians, 18.4% of Caucasians, and only 1.9% of Africans. ABCB1 expression was consistently reduced in patients with IBD compared to healthy controls. CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis provides evidence that ABCB1 rs2032582 polymorphism is associated with IBD susceptibility, particularly in Asian and African populations, with a more pronounced effect in CD. These findings highlight the potential role of ABCB1 in IBD pathogenesis and suggest that ethnic-specific genetic variations may contribute to disease susceptibility. Further large-scale, multi-ethnic studies are required to validate these findings and explore the underlying mechanisms.