The role of activated T cells in transformed intestinal mucosa.
Activated T cells can be identified immunohistochemically in the intestinal lamina propria in a number of gastrointestinal diseases including food sensitive enteropathy (coeliac disease) and intractable diarrhoea of infancy. Experimental studies have shown that T cell activation in human intestinal lamina propria in vitro produces an increase in crypt cell proliferation, villous atrophy, increased HLA-DR expression on enterocytes, increased intraepithelial lymphocyte numbers, and, phenotypically, macrophage activation. All of these features are seen in food sensitive enteropathy and it is proposed that lamina propria T cell activation to food antigens plays the primary role in the pathogenesis of these disorders by altering mucosal morphology and the rate of epithelial cell proliferation.
MacDonald
T T
TT
Department of Paediatric Gastroenterology, St Bartholomews Hospital, London, UK.
Spencer
J
J
D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000276:immunology*; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000276:immunology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology*; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*