Peripheral neutrophil functions and cell signalling in Crohn`s disease (original) (raw)

The role of the innate immunity in the pathogenesis of Crohn's disease (CD), an inflammatory bowel disease, is a subject of increasing interest. Neutrophils (PMN) are key members of the innate immune system which migrate to sites of bacterial infection and initiate the defence against microbes by producing reactive oxygen species (ROS), before undergoing apoptosis. It is believed that impaired innate immune responses contribute to CD, but it is as yet unclear whether intrinsic defects in PMN signal transduction and corresponding function are present in patients with quiescent disease. We isolated peripheral blood PMN from CD patients in remission and healthy controls (HC), and characterised migration, bacterial uptake and killing, ROS production and cell death signalling. Whereas IL8-induced migration and signalling were normal in CD, trans-epithelial migration was significantly impaired. Uptake and killing of E. coli were normal. However, an increased ROS production was observe...