title: Circulating antiinflammatory cytokine IL-10 in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
abstract: IBD is characterized by increased serum concentrations of different cytokines. IL-10 inhibits the production of proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-1, tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and IL-6 through inhibitory action on Th1 cells and macrophages, and it is thought to be a suppressor type cytokine. In the present study we determined serum concentrations of IL-10 in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). We measured human IL-10 by our own newly established ELISA system using PharMingen antibodies. Serum antibodies were assessed in 44 patients with UC, 40 patients with CD, and in 30 healthy controls. Human IL-10 serum levels were significantly increased in patients with active UC (144 +/- 34 pg/ml (mean +/- s.e.m.), P < 0.001) and in active CD (132 +/- 32 pg/ml, P < 0.001) compared with healthy controls (44 +/- 9.5 pg/ml). Only patients with active CD and active UC presented with significantly increased IL-10 serum levels, while patients with inactive disease did not show any significant increase. There was no statistically significant difference between IL-10 serum levels in patients with CD or UC. Compared with clinical disease activity indices there was a significant correlation between IL-10 serum concentration and CDAI in patients with CD (r = 0.45, P < 0.01) and CAI in UC patients (r = 0.39, P < 0.05). Comparing IL-10 serum levels with serum concentrations of other proinflammatory cytokines there was a significant correlation to serum levels of sIL-2R (r = 0.417, P < 0.05) and IL-6 (r = 0.387, P < 0.05) in patients with CD. Serum cytokine levels in patients with UC did not show any significant correlation to IL-10 serum concentration. IL-10 is elevated in serum of patients with active CD and UC, suggesting that IL-10 acts as a naturally occurring damper in the acute inflammatory process of IBD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine B, University of Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kucharzik
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stoll
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lügering
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Domschke
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D016753:Interleukin-10