Active thymopoiesis in idiopathic chronic pancreatitis.
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.
Cianci
R
R
Institute of Internal Medicine, Catholic University, Rome, Italy.
Spada
C
C
Perri
V
V
Cammarota
G
G
Urgesi
R
R
Lolli
S
S
Girardi
E
E
Costamagna
G
G
Pandolfi
F
F
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
D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; D004247:DNA