title: Active thymopoiesis in idiopathic chronic pancreatitis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cellular immunity has a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of chronic pancreatitis (CP), resulting in pancreas infiltration by T-cells. Studies on systemic immunity are few and contradictory. One study reported a decrease of naive CD45RA+ cells. The presence of naive T cells, detected as recent thymic emigrants (RTEs), is evaluated with a new molecular technique by using real-time PCR to detect the T-cell receptor excision circles (TREC). To elucidate the role of naive T-cells in the pathogenesis of CP, we investigated the percentage of sj-TREC in CP patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty CP patients were studied and compared to 30 sex- and age-matched healthy volunteers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Genomic DNA was isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of each patient. RTEs were evaluated by measuring sj-TREC by real-time PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean percentage of sj-TREC+ cells present in CP was not significantly different from that of control group (0.02319% vs 0.02338%, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data show that naive TREC+ cells are normally represented in CP. The presence of active thymopoiesis may be the underlying mechanism resulting in continuous production of T-cells, responsible of maintaining the inflammatory process.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Internal Medicine, Catholic University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cianci
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Spada
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Perri
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cammarota
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Urgesi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lolli
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Girardi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Costamagna
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pandolfi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D015329:Gene Rearrangement, T-Lymphocyte; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D038041:Lymphopoiesis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D050500:Pancreatitis, Chronic / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000378:metabolism*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; D004247:DNA