Published in:
01-10-2018 | Original Article
Expression of α-Defensins, CD20+ B-lymphocytes, and Intraepithelial CD3+ T-lymphocytes in the Intestinal Mucosa of Patients with Liver Cirrhosis: Emerging Mediators of Intestinal Barrier Function
Authors:
Georgios I. Tsiaoussis, Eleni C. Papaioannou, Eleni P. Kourea, Stelios F. Assimakopoulos, Georgios I. Theocharis, Michalis Petropoulos, Vasileios I. Theopistos, Georgia G. Diamantopoulou, Zoi Lygerou, Iris Spiliopoulou, Konstantinos C. Thomopoulos
Published in:
Digestive Diseases and Sciences
|
Issue 10/2018
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Abstract
Aim
The present study investigates the role of innate and adaptive immune system of intestinal mucosal barrier function in cirrhosis.
Methods
Forty patients with decompensated (n = 40, group A), 27 with compensated cirrhosis (n = 27, group B), and 27 controls (n = 27, group C) were subjected to duodenal biopsy. Expression of α-defensins 5 and 6 at the intestinal crypts was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. Serum endotoxin, intestinal T-intraepithelial, and lamina propria B-lymphocytes were quantified.
Results
Cirrhotic patients presented higher endotoxin concentrations (p < 0.0001) and diminished HD5 and HD6 expression compared to healthy controls (p = 0.000287, p = 0.000314, respectively). The diminished HD5 and HD6 expressions were also apparent among the decompensated patients compared to compensated group (p = 0.025, p = 0.041, respectively). HD5 and HD6 expressions were correlated with endotoxin levels (r = -0.790, p < 0.0001, r = − 0.777, p < 0.0001, respectively). Although intraepithelial T-lymphocytes were decreased in group A compared to group C (p = 0.002), no notable alterations between groups B and C were observed. The B-lymphocytic infiltrate did not differ among the investigated groups.
Conclusions
These data demonstrate that decreased expression of antimicrobial peptides may be considered as a potential pathophysiological mechanism of intestinal barrier dysfunction in liver cirrhosis, while remodeling of gut-associated lymphoid tissue as an acquired immune response to bio-pathogens remains an open field to illuminate.