Abstract

Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease in which the colonic mucosa is infiltrated with plasma cells producing IgG autoantibodies. It is not known whether this represents a local mucosal response which has switched to IgG or a peripheral response which may have been initiated by peripheral antigen which homed to the colonic mucosa. The clonal distribution of IgG secreting cells and isotype switched variants in UC is not known.

Aims: To investigate the clonal distribution of mucosal IgG in UC and to search for related IgG and IgA secreting cells in normal and diseased mucosa and blood in UC. To investigate characteristics which may discriminate between the mucosal and peripheral repertoire in the normal mucosa and in UC.

Patients: Blood and normal and diseased mucosa from two patients with UC were studied.

Methods: Immunoglobulin gene analysis and clone specific polymerase chain reaction were used to study the clonal distribution and characteristics of IgG and related IgA in the mucosa and blood of patients with UC.

Results: The IgG response in the mucosa of UC patients included widespread clones of cells that were present in both the diseased mucosa and blood but that were scarce in normal mucosa. Clonally related IgA class switch variants, all IgA1, were detected but also only in the diseased mucosa and blood. This suggests that these clones home preferentially to the diseased mucosa. We showed that J_H1 usage was characteristic of the peripheral repertoire, and that examples of J_H1 usage were observed in mucosal IgG in UC.

Conclusions: Overall, these data are consistent with a model of UC in which a peripheral response is expressed and expanded in the colonic mucosa.