title: [Expressions of inflammatory cytokines in intestinal mucosa and their prognostic value in patients with ulcerative colitis].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To detect the expressions of IL-17, IL-23, IL-22 and IL-11 in the intestinal mucosa of patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and analyze their prognostic values.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty patients with active UC, 15 with UC in remission and 15 healthy subjects were examined for the expressions and distribution of IL-17, IL-23, IL-22, and IL-11 in the colorectal mucosausing immunohistochemistry. We further collected the data from 40 patients with routine therapy and regular follow-up and compared the expressions of those cytokines according to the condition of mucosal healing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The expressions of cytokines in patients with active UC were significantly higher than those in patients with remittent UC and healthy control subjects (IL-17: 0.0727∓0.0037 vs 0.0354∓0.0243 vs 0.0330∓0.0045; IL-23: 0.1407∓0.0068 vs 0.0865∓0.0051 vs 0.0442∓0.0137; IL-22: 0.0522∓0.0045 vs 0.0259∓0.0063 vs 0.0115∓0.0061; IL-11: 0.0479∓0.0022 vs 0.0365∓0.0024 vs 0.0232∓0.0009, P<0.05). The expression levels of IL-17, IL-23, and IL-22 increased significantly with the increase of the disease activity (IL-17: 0.0545∓0.0072 vs 0.0786∓ 0.0051 vs 0.0847∓0.0197; IL-23: 0.1112∓0.0046 vs 0.1480∓0.0089 vs 0.1644∓0.0190; IL-22: 0.0307∓0.0063 vs 0.0548∓ 0.0071 vs 0.0719∓0.0056, P<0.05). In patients with active UC, the expression levels of the 4 cytokines in the intestinal mucosa were positively correlated with the endoscopic activity grade (P<0.05), and IL-17 and IL-22 expression levels were also positively correlated with the histological grade (P<0.05). All the 4 cytokines were positively intercorrelated. The patients with low IL-17 expression (25.00%) showed a significantly lower rate of poor mucosal healing than those with high IL-17 expressions (25% vs 67%, P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The cytokines IL-17, IL-23, IL-22, and IL-11 all participate in the pathogenesis of UC and may serve as indicators for evaluating the inflammatory activity. The expression level of IL-17 can be a valuable indicator for predicting mucosal healing in UC patients after a short-term treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China. E-mail: 873598493@qq.com.
authors.forename: An-Na
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yu-Qing
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Mu-Xiao
authors.initials: MX
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Ya-Li
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000378:metabolism*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D017370:Interleukin-11; D020381:Interleukin-17; D053759:Interleukin-23; D007378:Interleukins; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism*; D011379:Prognosis; D014945:Wound Healing; D000097043:Interleukin-22
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D017370:Interleukin-11; D020381:Interleukin-17; D053759:Interleukin-23; D007378:Interleukins; D000097043:Interleukin-22; C508611:IL11 protein, human; C508717:IL17A protein, human