Increased central memory T cells in patients with chronic pancreatitis.
OBJECTIVE
A dysregulated immune response has been suggested to be important for the pathogenesis of chronic pancreatitis (CP). Formation of immunological memory is based on the differentiation of naive T lymphocytes to memory T lymphocytes after exposure to antigens and specific cytokines. The aim of this study was to analyze peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in patients with CP for different T lymphocyte subsets including naive and memory T cells.


METHODS
PBMCs from 9 patients who had undergone pancreatic resection due to CP, 9 CP patients who had not been resected and 9 healthy controls were analyzed by flow cytometry.


RESULTS
Patients with CP had a skewed distribution of T lymphocytes, with an increased level of CCR7+/CD45RA- central memory T lymphocytes compared to healthy controls. Nonresected CP patients and subjects who had undergone pancreatic resection due to CP had similar levels of central memory T lymphocytes.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results indicate that the dysregulation of the immune system in chronic pancreatitis seems to persist even after removal of large parts of the local inflammatory site. We suggest that the increase of central memory T lymphocytes may be important for maintaining the inflammatory process in chronic pancreatitis.
Grundsten
Måns
M
Center for Surgical Sciences, Department of Surgery, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Liu
Guang-Zhi
GZ
Permert
Johan
J
Hjelmstrom
Peter
P
Tsai
Jon A
JA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007154:Immune System Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D019409:Interleukin-15 / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000601:surgery; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology
D019409:Interleukin-15; D002097:C-Reactive Protein