title: The role of CD4+ lymphocytes in the susceptibility of mice to stress-induced reactivation of experimental colitis.
abstract: Idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease is a chronic relapsing condition. The role of stress in causing relapses of inflammatory bowel disease remains controversial. We now show that colitis induced in mice by dinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (DNBS) resolves by 6 weeks, but can subsequently be reactivated by stress plus a sub-threshold dose of DNBS, but not by DNBS alone. Stress reduced colonic mucin and increased colon permeability. Susceptibility to reactivation by stress required CD4+ lymphocytes and could be adoptively transferred. We conclude that stress reactivates experimental colitis by facilitating entry of luminal contents that activate previously sensitized CD4 cells in the colon.
authors.affiliation: Intestinal Diseases Research Unit, Division of Gastroenterology, Room 4W8, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Vallance
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Blennerhassett
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Collins
mesh_terms: D019264:Adoptive Transfer; D000818:Animals; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes; D016827:CD8 Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D003092:Colitis / Q000276:immunology*; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008819:Mice, Nude; D016513:Mice, SCID; D009077:Mucins / Q000378:metabolism; D010539:Permeability; D012008:Recurrence; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D015704:CD4 Antigens; D016827:CD8 Antigens; D009077:Mucins