Comparative study of eosinophil chemotaxis, adhesion, and degranulation in vitro in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease

BACKGROUND

Eosinophils have been identified in tissues from patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) but whether they contribute to IBD pathogenesis is unknown. This study aimed to investigate the functional activity and morphological aspects of peripheral-blood eosinophils from IBD patients compared to those from healthy volunteers (HVs).

METHODS

Eosinophils from HVs and CD and UC patients were purified using a Percoll gradient and then a immunomagnetic cell separator. Functional activity in inactivated and previously activated cells was investigated by measuring adhesion to fibronectin and chemotaxis to fMLP, and degranulation was measured by release of eosinophil peroxidase (EPO). Cell morphology was investigated using electron microscopy.

RESULTS

Eosinophil adhesion to human fibronectin in both inactivated and PAF-stimulated and PMA-stimulated eosinophils was markedly higher in patients with CD than in either patients with UC or HVs. Similarly, the chemotactic response was markedly higher in eosinophils isolated from CD patients than in those isolated from UC patients or HVs. Baseline EPO release was higher in eosinophils isolated from UC patients than in those isolated from HVs or CD patients. Stimulation with fMLP or PMA did not further increase EPO release in cells from UC or CD patients. Comparable expression of MAC- 1 and VLA-4 adhesion molecules was observed on the surfaces of eosinophils from all groups, and an greater number of granules was noted in the eosinophils from UC patients than in those from CD patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results indicate that peripheral-blood eosinophils are potentially primed and activated in IBD patients. Whether the differences in the morphology and functional responses of eosinophil from UC and CD patients reflect differences in disease phenotype remains to be elucidated.

[Cariogenicity and cariostatic properties of different types of milk-review]

The purpose of this study is to introduce some information about local and systemic effects of different kinds of milk in oral health, through the explicitness of its cariogenicity and cariostatic properties. Different kinds of milk and milk products are consumed most commonly by the worldwide population, raising the interest of researchers in its influence in the oral health for some decades. Several studies have been conducted to associate the consumption of bovine-, human- and infant formula-milk with caries development and other dental defect, but controversial results have not been able to define the cariogenic and cariostatic potential of different kinds of milk. Bovine milk has some cariostatic components as casein, lipids and antibacterial enzyme, though it has 4% lactose, supposedly cariogenic sugar. Human milk has been related to a sort of caries which is like bottle caries, even though some studies have demonstrated its non cariogenicity. The infant formula milk, which is elaborated for specific period in the childhood, has received low control on its potential for developing caries. It could be of great value to elucidate the controversy surrounding the cariogenicity and cariostatic properties of different kinds of milk, concerning caries prevention during infant and adult life.