Increased numbers of interleukin-15-expressing cells in active ulcerative colitis

I Kirman, O H Nielsen

96 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Interleukin-15 (IL-15) is a novel cytokine sharing many of the activities of IL-2. The goal of this study was to evaluate intracellular and serum IL-15 in ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD).

METHODS: Intracellular expression of IL-15 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from UC patients, CD patients, and controls was studied using cell permeabilization and staining with monoclonal antibodies. Serum levels of IL-15 were detected using ELISA.

RESULTS: Percentage of IL-15 expressing PBMC was increased in UC patients and in five of six of CD patients with moderate and severe disease activity compared with controls. The number of IL-15 expressing cells in patients with active inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) declined within 2 wk of treatment. Serum IL-15 reached detectable levels in 62.5% of UC patients with moderate and severe disease activity but not in UC patients with slight disease activity or in remission, neither in CD patients nor in controls. In vitro lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced activation of PBMC from controls was associated with up-regulation of intracellular IL-15 expression (p < 0.01) and release of IL-15.

CONCLUSIONS: UC patients with moderate and severe disease activity have increased percentage of IL-15 expressing PBMC, which might be induced by in vivo cell activation and can lead to elevation of released IL-15 in serum. Increased IL-15 expression after in vitro LPS stimulation of control PBMC suggests a nonspecific production of this cytokine during the immunoinflammatory response.

Original languageEnglish
JournalThe American Journal of Gastroenterology
Volume91
Issue number9
Pages (from-to)1789-94
Number of pages6
ISSN0002-9270
Publication statusPublished - Sept 1996

Keywords

  • Adult
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Colitis, Ulcerative/immunology
  • Crohn Disease/immunology
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
  • Female
  • Gene Expression
  • Humans
  • Interleukin-15
  • Interleukins/metabolism
  • Leukocytes, Mononuclear/metabolism
  • Lymphocyte Activation
  • Male
  • Time Factors

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