TUESDAY, Feb. 28 (HealthDay News) -- The inflammation characteristic of Crohn's disease may be caused by an impairment in innate immunity, a finding that challenges the prevailing wisdom that Crohn's has an autoimmune component, according to a study in the Feb. 25 issue of The Lancet. What's more, sildenafil might play a role in treating the disease.
Anthony W. Segal, F.R.S., of University College London, and colleagues investigated cytokine production and the number of neutrophils recruited to areas of trauma in the rectum and ileum as well as induced trauma on the skin surface in nine patients with non-inflammatory bowel disease, six patients with Crohn's disease and three patients with ulcerative colitis.
Compared with controls, trauma induced 79 percent fewer neutrophils to the rectum, 57 percent fewer to the ileum and 50 percent fewer cells to the skin of Crohn's disease patients. Levels of interleukin 8 and interleukin 1-beta were lower in Crohn's patients. In addition, inflammatory response to heat-killed E. coli, which was measured by blood flow, was reduced in Crohn's patients compared to controls. Sildenafil improved blood flow, suggesting a possible role for the drug in treating the disease, the authors say.
"In Crohn's disease, a constitutionally weak immune response predisposes to accumulation of intestinal contents that breach the mucosal barrier of the bowel wall, resulting in granuloma formation and chronic inflammation," the authors conclude.
Abstract
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