sTNF-RI is upregulated in the serum of IBD patients compared to healthy controls and could be used as a marker for disease activity. sTNF-RII levels are significantly more elevated in serum of active CD patients as compared to UC and could be used as an additional parameter to discriminate both diseases.
Intestinal macrophages (IMAC) are a central component in the defense of the intestinal mucosa against luminal microbes. In normal mucosa, monocytes differentiate to immunologically tolerant IMAC with a typical phenotype lacking activation markers such as CD14 and TLRs 2 and 4. CD33+ IMAC were isolated from normal intestinal mucosa by immunomagnetic beads. A subtractive hybridization subtracting mRNA from normal IMAC from those of in vitro differentiated macrophages was performed. IMAC differentiation was studied in multicellular spheroids (MCS). Functional assays on migration of CD45R0+ T cells were performed in MCS coculture models. Of 76 clones, 3 obtained by subtractive mRNA hybridization showed >99% homology to mRNA of MIP-3α, indicating that this chemokine is induced in IMAC compared with in vitro differentiated macrophages. MIP-3α protein expression was confirmed in cryostat sections of normal intestinal mucosa by immunohistochemistry. IMAC in the lamina propria stained positive for MIP-3α. FACS of purified IMAC clearly indicated expression of MIP-3α in these cells. In the MCS-in vitro differentiation model for IMAC, MIP-3α protein expression was absent on day 1 but detectable on day 7 of coculture, demonstrating the induction of MIP-3α during differentiation of IMAC. IMAC attracted CD45R0+ T cells to migrate into an MCS coculture model. In human mucosa, a close contact between IMAC and CD45R0+ T cells could be demonstrated. MIP-3α is induced during the differentiation of monocytes into IMAC. Our data suggest that MIP-3α expression could be involved in the recruitment of CD45R0+ cells into the lamina propria.
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