title: Intraepithelial lymphocytes bearing the gamma/delta receptor in the oral and jejunal mucosa in patients with dermatitis herpetiformis.
abstract: Lymphocytes bearing T cell receptor (TcR) gamma/delta are increased in the jejunal mucosa of patients with dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) and coeliac disease. In this study, we examined whether increased numbers of gamma/delta TcR positive lymphocytes occur in the oral mucosa of patients with DH. Oral and jejunal mucosal biopsies were taken from 13 newly diagnosed and 13 gluten free diet (GFD)-treated patients with DH. Monoclonal antibodies and avidin-biotin peroxidase method was used for staining, and TcR positive cells were counted from the buccal and jejunal epithelium. Very few gamma/delta TcR positive lymphocytes were seen in the buccal epithelium of untreated or GFD-treated DH patients (median 0.4 and 0.3 cells/mm2), whereas alpha/beta TcR positive lymphocytes were frequent in both groups of DH patients (154 and 250 cells/mm2) and healthy controls (135 cells/mm2). The numbers of gamma/delta TcR positive intraepithelial lymphocytes were significantly increased in the jejunum of both untreated (43 cells/mm) and GFD-treated (27 cells/mm) DH patients compared to control patients (2.2 cells/mm). The present study did not, therefore, disclose any evidence for active recruitment of gamma/delta TcR positive lymphocytes in the oral epithelium, but showed substantial amounts of intraepithelial alpha/beta TcR positive lymphocytes both in DH patients and healthy controls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Patinen
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Savilahti
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hietanen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Malmström
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mäki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Reunala
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D001706:Biopsy; D017252:CD3 Complex / Q000032:analysis; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000473:pathology; D004396:Coloring Agents; D003874:Dermatitis Herpetiformis / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D018753:Diet, Protein-Restricted; D004848:Epithelium / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005983:Glutens; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000473:pathology*; D007583:Jejunum / Q000473:pathology*; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000473:pathology*; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000032:analysis; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta / Q000032:analysis*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D017252:CD3 Complex; D004396:Coloring Agents; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta; D005983:Glutens