Cytokine production profile in intestinal mucosa of paediatric inflammatory bowel disease

In the recent years, the incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has dramatically increased in young subjects, however, the pathogenesis of paediatric IBD is poorly investigated. In this study we aimed to evaluate the cytokine pattern and the phenotype of cytokine producing cells in the intestinal mucosa of paediatric patients affected by Crohn’s disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC) and of non-IBD healthy controls (HC). Cytokine (IL-15, TNF-α, INF-γ) production was analyzed at basal condition and after mitogen stimulation either intra-cellularly by flow cytometry or in intestinal cell culture supernatants by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A higher frequency of enterocytes (EpCam+ cells) was observed in UC patients compared to CD or HC. An expansion of enterocytes producing IL-15 and TNF-α were found in IBD patients compared to HC. A marked expression of IL-15 in the intestinal epithelium of IBD patients was further confirmed by immunohistochemistry. Myeloid dendritic (CD11c+) cells producing TNF-α and INF-γ were increased in IBD biopsies. Unexpectedly, only after a strong mitogen stimulus, as phytohaemagglutinin, the frequency of CD3+ cells producing IFN-γ was increased in IBD compared to control intestinal mucosa. Interestingly, functional studies performed on organ cultures of intestinal biopsies with neutralizing anti-IL-15 monoclonal antibody showed a marked reduction of mononuclear cell activation, proliferation of crypt enterocytes, as well as a reduction of TNF-α release in organ culture supernatants. In conclusion, we found that in the gut mucosa of IBD children both enterocytes and dendritic cells produce proinflammatory cytokines. The over-expression of IL-15 by enterocytes in IBD intestine and the reduced IBD inflammation by IL-15 blockage suggests that this cytokine could be a therapeutic target in IBD.