In present study, the subsets of activated (HLA-DR
+) lamina propria T cells were evaluated in ulcerative colitis (UC) mucosa using three-color flow cytometry. Activated suppressor-inducer T cells (T
si), helper T cells (T
h) and cytotoxic T cells (T
c) were increased in affected mucosa of UC patients not given steroid hormones (SH) compared with in the normal control mucosa. It was supposed that the increase of activated T
si was the secondary change of inflammation, because this change was demonstrated in non-IBD colitis too. However, the increase of activated T
h and T
c might indicate the immunological abnormalities related to the pathogenesis of UC, because these changes were demonstrated only in UC, not in non-IBD colitis. On the other hand, no increase of these activated T cells were demonstrated in affected mucosa of UC patients given SH, perhaps reflecting the immuno-suppressive effect of SH.
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