COMPARISON OF THE SURFACE ANTIGENS OF LYMPHOCYTES IN PEYER'S PATCHES AND IN THE PERIPHERAL BLOOD OF PATIENTS WITH OR WITHOUT CROHN'S DISEASE

Abstract

To study the abnormal immune response to peroral antigens in patients with active Crohn's disease (CD), the surface antigens of lymphocytes in Peyer's patches (PP) and peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) were examined. The subjects were 6 adults with CD and 6 normal adults. The PP in the terminal ileum were biopsied endoscopically, and PP lymphocytes (PPLs) were isolated. Lymphocytes were also isolated from a peripheral blood sample. The lymphocytes were stained using monoclonal antibodies to CD4, CD8, CCR4 and CCR5 ; CCR4 and CCR5 are selectively expressed on the surface of Th2 cells or Thl cells, respectively. The samples were analyzed by flow cytometry. In the normal subjects, among the CD8-positive PPLs, the percentage of CCR5-positive cells was significantly higher than the percentage of CCR4-positive cells (p<0.05) . In the CD patients, the percentage of Th1 (CCR5-positive, CD4-positive) cells or Tc1 (CCR5-positive, CD8-positive) cells among the PPLs was significantly higher than the respective percentage among the PBLs (p<0.01, p<0.01) . Comparison of the PPLs from the patients with CD and those from the normal controls showed that the percentage of Thl cells or Tcl cells in the patients with CD was significantly higher than the respective percentage in the normal controls. As to the PBLs, there were no significant differences in the percentage of Th1 cells or Tc1 cells between the CD patients and the normal subjects. These results suggest that the immune response of the PPLs of CD patients to peroral antigens is altered, in that Thl-type PPLs are excessively produced. These immunologic changes may be related to the etiology of CD.