1. Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha in Ileal Mast Cells in Patients with Crohn’s Disease
- Author
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Lennart Franzén, Christina Gustafson-Svärd, Rune Sjödahl, and Ingela Lilja
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Cell type ,Pathology ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Necrosis ,Adolescent ,Cell Count ,Tryptase ,Inflammatory bowel disease ,Immunoenzyme Techniques ,Crohn Disease ,Ileum ,medicine ,Humans ,Macrophage ,Mast Cells ,Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect ,Aged ,biology ,Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ,business.industry ,Gastroenterology ,Antibodies, Monoclonal ,Ileitis ,Middle Aged ,medicine.disease ,Mast cell ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Immunology ,biology.protein ,Female ,Tumor necrosis factor alpha ,medicine.symptom ,Antibody ,business ,Biomarkers - Abstract
Background: Reports that both intestinal and extraintestinal Crohn’s disease (CD) had healed successfully after treatment with anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) antibody have strengthened the hypothesis that it has a role in the treatment of CD. The macrophage is one source of TNF-α. Intestinal mast cells are also thought to have a role in CD, but it is not known if human ileal mast cells express TNF-α. Aim: To find out whether TNF-α is expressed by mast cells in the ileal wall in CD patients and controls. Methods: TNF-α was sought immunohistochemically in full thickness specimens of ileal wall from patients with CD (histologically normal, n = 9; inflamed, n = 6) and controls (patients with colonic cancer, n = 8). Mast cells were identified by metachromasia and anti-mast cell tryptase immunoreactivity. Results: In all layers of the ileal wall, and in every specimen investigated, mast cells were the main cell type that expressed TNF-α immunoreactivity out of the TNF-α-labelled cells. The number of TNF-α- labelled mast cells was greater in the muscularis propria in patients compared with controls, both in uninflamed (1.7-fold, p < 0.05) and in inflamed bowel (4.6-fold, p < 0.002); greater in the submucosa in inflamed compared with uninflamed CD (1.6-fold, p < 0.01), and less in the lamina propria in inflamed compared with uninflamed CD (0.4-fold, p < 0.05). Conclusion: Mast cells are an important source of TNF-α in all layers of the ileal wall, and the increased density of TNF-α-positive mast cells in the submucosa and muscularis propria may contribute to the tissue changes and symptoms in CD.
- Published
- 2000
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