Immune mechanisms in the pathogenesis of inflammatory gastrointestinal disorders.
The cytokine secretion profile of T cells present in the gastric antrum of Helicobacter pylori-infected patients with peptic ulcer and in the gut of patients with Crohn's disease was investigated. A type 1 T helper (Th1)-dominated response was detected in the gastric antrum of Helicobacter pylori-infected subjects with peptic ulcer by both reverse transcriptase-PCR and immunohistochemistry. By using a T-cell cloning technique, it was shown that the majority of Th 1 cells were specific for Hp antigens. A Th1 predominance, which associated with high IL-12 expression, was also found, at both clonal and immunohistochemical level, in the gut of patients with Crohn's disease. These findings suggest that the Th1/Th2 paradigm may be useful to explain the inflammatory reactions involved in the pathogenesis of some gastrointestinal disorders.
D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000276:immunology*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism*; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000276:immunology; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology
D016207:Cytokines