Distribuion of T cell subsets and DR antigen positive T cells in peripheral blood and in intestinal mucosa of inflammatory bowel disease

Abstract

The absolute number of T cell subsets and the rate of T cell DR antigen expression in the peripheral blood and the intestinal mucosa in IBD patients were compared with those in healthy normalc controls by two color analysis.
The methods used here were flow cytometry for the peripheral blood and immunohistological fluorescent staining for the intestinal mucosa. In peripheral blood lymphocyte (PBL), helper (CD4+Leu8-) T cells increased in ulcerative colitis (UC), whereas suppressor (CD8+ CD11+) T cells decreased in Crohn's disease (CRD). In lamina propria lymphocyte (LPL) of intestinal mucosa, there were no changes in the proportion of T cell subsets in UC, whereas suppressor (CD8+ CD11+) T cells increased in inflamed mucosa of CRD. DR antigen positive T cells did not increase in PBL, but they increased in LPL of both UC and CRD.
In conclusion, there are some differences in distribution of T cell subsets and DR antigen positive T cells between the peripheral blood and the intestinal mucosa in IBD patients. Moreover, the heterogeneity of the distribution of T cell subsets is observed between UC and CRD.