title: Plasmacytoid dendritic cells are scarcely represented in the human gut mucosa and are not recruited to the celiac lesion.
abstract: Celiac disease (CD) is a chronic small intestinal inflammation precipitated by gluten ingestion. According to case reports, interferon (IFN)-α administration may induce development of overt CD. Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDCs) were thought to be the source of IFN-α and promote a T helper type 1 response leading to lesion formation. Surprisingly and contradicting to earlier findings, PDCs were described as the main antigen-presenting cells (APCs) in human duodenal mucosa and particularly in CD. Here we show that when assessed by flow cytometry and in situ staining, PDCs represent < 1% of APCs in both normal duodenal mucosa and the celiac lesion. Low levels of IFN-α were detected in the celiac lesion assessed by western blot, reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR, and immunohistochemistry. In four cell populations sorted from the celiac lesion (based on their expression of HLA-DR and CD45), we found that equally low levels of mRNA for IFN-α were distributed among these cell populations. Together, these results suggest that relatively small amount of IFN-α, produced by a variety of cell types, is present in the celiac mucosa. IFN-λ, a type III IFN important in intestinal antiviral defense, was produced mainly by APCs, but its expression was not increased in the celiac lesion.
authors: Centre for Immune Regulation and Department of Immunology, Oslo University Hospital-Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway. melinda.raki@medisin.uio.no
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Ráki
authors: A-C Røberg
authors: AC
authors: Beitnes
authors: K E A
authors: KE
authors: Lundin
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Jahnsen
authors: F L
authors: FL
authors: Jahnsen
authors: L M
authors: LM
authors: Sollid
mesh_terms: D017951:Antigen Presentation; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000378:metabolism; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000276:immunology*; D002469:Cell Separation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D005983:Glutens / Q000276:immunology; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000276:immunology*; D064547:Myxovirus Resistance Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D016898:Interferon-alpha; C579071:MX1 protein, human; D064547:Myxovirus Resistance Proteins; D005983:Glutens