Circulating antiinflammatory cytokine IL-10 in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

Abstract

SUMMARY IBD is characterized by increased serum concentrations of different cytokines. IL‐10 inhibits the production of proinflammatory cytokines such as IL‐1, tumour necrosis factor‐alpha (TNF‐a), interferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ) and IL‐6 through inhibitory action on Th1 cells and macrophages, and it is thought to be a suppressor type cytokine. In the present study we determined serum concentrations of IL‐10 in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). We measured human IL‐10 by our own newly established ELISA system using PharMingen antibodies. Serum antibodies were assessed in 44 patients with UC, 40 patients with CD, and in 30 healthy controls. Human IL‐10 serum levels were significantly increased in patients with active UC (144 ± 34 pg/ml (mean ± s.e.m.), P <0.001) and in active CD (132 ± 32 pg/ml, P <0.001) compared with healthy controls (44.9.5pg/ml). Only patients with active CD and active UC presented with significantly increased IL‐10 serum levels, while patients with inactive disease did not show any significant increase. There was no statistically significant difference between IL‐10 serum levels in patients with CD or UC. Compared with clinical disease activity indices there was a significant correlation between IL‐10 serum concentration and CDAI in patients with CD (r= 0.45, P <0.01) and CAI in VC patients (r= 0.39, P <0.05). Comparing IL‐10 serum levels with serum concentrations of other proinflammatory cytokines there was a significant correlation to scrum levels of sIL‐2R (r= 0.417, P <0.05) and IL‐6 (r= 0.387, P <0.05) in patients with CD. Serum cytokine levels in patients with UC did not show any significant correlation to IL‐10 serum concentration. IL‐10 is elevated in serum of patients with active CD and UC. suggesting that IL‐10 acts as a naturally occurring damper in the acute inflammatory process of IBD.

Therapeutic potential of hen egg white peptides for the treatment of intestinal inflammation

“…IL-10 is constitutively expressed in normal gut tissue, and inhibits the production of inflammatory cytokines, however, it is also produced by activated macrophages (Fiorentino et al, 1991). Our results support previous observations of elevated levels of IL-10 in IBD patients as a response to chronic inflammation (Kucharzik et al, 1995), and it has been suggested that despite its up-regulation, the intrinsic intestinal bioavailability of IL-10 might be insufficient to control the local inflammation (Autschbach et al, 1998). The increased IL-10 levels observed in the Pos animals may be indicative of a state of ongoing inflammation, whereas EWP treatment accelerated healing, reduced inflammation and returned IL-10 to levels similar to those of Neg animals.…”

Limited effects of dietary curcumin on Th-1 driven colitis in IL-10 deficient mice suggest an IL-10-dependent mechanism of protection

“…9 and Y. Cong, personal communication). Whereas IL-10 knockout mice provide an excellent model to study CD pathogenesis, particularly its microbial aspects, human genetic variations known to date as associated with CD do not include the IL-10 locus and serum IL-10 concentrations are increased in the acute phase of CD (26). Therefore, the data presented here should not be considered as definitive evidence against the use of curcumin in CD patients.…”

The effect of IL-10 genetic variation and interleukin 10 serum levels on Crohn's disease susceptibility in a New Zealand population

“…Basal levels of IL-10 are likely to modulate the production of other proinflammatory mediators and thus subtle differences in basal levels of IL-10 may affect the steady-state cytokine network. Kucharzik et al observed an increased serum IL-10 concentration in patients with CD and UC compared with controls [22]. However, only patients with active CD and active UC presented with significantly increased IL-10 serum levels, whereas patients with inactive disease did not exhibit any significant increase.…”