Abstract
Our previous studies demonstrated both humoral and cell-mediated autoimmunity to the goblet cell of the colon to be recognized in ulcerative colitis. As one of the characteristics of this disease is ascending and continuous lesion that arises from the rectum to the oral parts of the colon, we consider that the boundary zone between the uninvolved and involved portion of the colon, in which an attack of immunocompetent cells to the goblet cell occurs and the mucosal defence is destroyed, has an important key to understand this disease. On the other hand, it has been reported that secretory component (SC) and IgA are important factors in the mucosal defence mechanism.
In this paper, 11 patients-three with proctitis, six with left-sided colitis, and two with total colitis-were investigated as for the correlation of SC, IgA, and goblet cell mucus in the colonic mucosa. Biopsy specimens, which were obtained from uninvolved, involved portions, and boundary zones with colonofiberscope, were examined regarding their distribution with immunofluorescent staining technique.
Both SC and IgA were decreased in distribution in mucosa of uninvolved portion and boundary zone, whereas goblet cell mucus was kept abundantly. And all of them were decreased in distribution in mucosa of involved lesion. So it seems that these three factors have an important relationship to each other in the colonic mucosal defence in ulcerative colitis.
