Changes in γδT Cells in Peripheral Blood of Patients with Ulcerative Colitis Exacerbations

The role of γδT cells in ulcerative colitis (UC) is well confirmed in experimental animals and demonstrated in many clinical observations. Recent investigations have indicated that UC is associated with several forms of immune imbalance, such as an imbalance between effector T cells and regulatory T cells. However, little is known about the cellular aspect of clinical colitis exacerbations. We observed 140 patients with histologically confirmed UC over the course of 8 years. We investigated the percentage of γδT and αβT cells in peripheral blood of patients and also the expression of various surface markers (CD25, CD54, CD62L). Patients were assembled into stable colitis and exacerbated colitis groups. The percentage of γδT and αβT cells was evaluated by Ortho Cytorone Absolute flow cytometer. In patients with exacerbated colitis we observed a decrease of γδT cells in peripheral blood and an increased ratio of αβT/γδT. Additionally, we found that exacerbation results in a significant increase of percentage of γδTCD25, γδTCD54 and γδTCD62L lymphocytes in peripheral blood when compared to patients with stable colitis. Exacerbation of ulcerative colitis results in a decreased percentage of γδT cells in peripheral blood with increase of CD25, CD54 and CD62L expressing γδT cells. This may represent the effect of cell activation and migration, similar to that observed after the surgical trauma. We hope that this observation may help to predict exacerbations in colitis patients.