title: Increased LFA-1 expression in intestines of rats with GVHD after small bowel transplantation.
abstract: Experimental graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) causes immune-mediated intestinal injury. The adhesion molecule lymphocyte function associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) is involved in leukocyte homing to areas of inflammatory injury. Our hypothesis was that LFA-1 is increased in the GVHD injured small bowel and colon. We found that animals with GVHD caused by auxiliary small bowel transplantation displayed significantly increased expression of intestinal LFA-1alpha at times of clinical illness when compared to controls. The staining pattern progressed from a few discretely stained cells in the lamina propria on day 5 to diffuse confluent staining of lamina propria on day 13 and was statistically significantly increased from controls at days 10 and 13. CyA-treated animals had intermediate staining between control and day 13 GVHD animals. There was no difference between sham-operated control animals and SBTx animals with GVHD in the amount of staining for LFA-1 in extraintestinal organs normally affected by GVHD. We conclude that: (1) LFA-1 expression in the small bowel and colon progressively increased during GVHD after SBTx; and (2) CyA treatment is associated with decreased LFA-1 expression in the small bowel and colon of GVHD animals after SBTx. LFA-1 may play an important role in immune-mediated injury of the intestine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Pennsylvania State University, College of Medicine, The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey 17033-0850, USA.
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Poritz
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Olt
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Ruggiero
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Colony
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Tilberg
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Koltun
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000378:metabolism*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000378:metabolism / Q000637:transplantation*; D016169:Lymphocyte Function-Associated Antigen-1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011914:Rats, Inbred BN; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
chemical_list: D016169:Lymphocyte Function-Associated Antigen-1; D016572:Cyclosporine