Tumour necrosis factor-alpha and interferon-gamma production measured at the single cell level in normal and inflamed human intestine.
The spot-ELISA technique has been used to enumerate the frequency of cells secreting tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), isolated from biopsies of normal intestine and from biopsies of children with inflammatory bowel disease. TNF-alpha production was undetectable in six out of 12 biopsies from normal intestine and in the other six biopsies it ranged from 60 to 580 TNF-alpha-secreting cells/10(6) isolated intestinal cells. In contrast, cells isolated from biopsies of children with Crohn's disease (n = 9) all showed elevated frequencies of TNF-alpha-secreting cells (500-12,000 secreting cells/10(6) cells). In ulcerative colitis, four out of eight children had increased production of TNF-alpha and in children with indeterminate colitis two out of three had elevated levels. There was no correlation between plasma TNF-alpha levels and the number of intestinal cells secreting TNF-alpha. In controls and all groups of patients IFN-gamma-secreting cells were uncommon. These results suggest that TNF-alpha is an important mediator of inflammation in the human gut, and, furthermore, may play a role in the growth failure frequently seen in children with inflammatory bowel disease.
MacDonald
T T
TT
Department of Paediatric Gastroenterology, St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, England.
Hutchings
P
P
Choy
M Y
MY
Murch
S
S
Cooke
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D001706:Biopsy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000276:immunology; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000276:immunology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007249:Inflammation / Q000276:immunology; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000276:immunology; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D007422:Intestines / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000096:biosynthesis*
D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D007371:Interferon-gamma