High densities of serotonin and peptide YY cells in the colon of patients with lymphocytic colitis

• Published in: World journal of gastroenterology : WJG Vol. 18; no. 42; pp. 6070 - 6075
• Main Authors: El-Salhy, Magdy, Gundersen, Doris, Hatlebakk, Jan Gunnar, Hausken, Trygve
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited 14.11.2012
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biopsy; Case-Control Studies; Colitis, Lymphocytic - metabolism; Colitis, Lymphocytic - pathology; Colon - chemistry; Colon - pathology; Colonoscopy; Enteroendocrine Cells - chemistry; Enteroendocrine Cells - pathology; Female; Humans; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; Immunohistochemistry; Male; Middle Aged; Original; Peptide YY - analysis; Predictive Value of Tests; Serotonin - analysis; Young Adult; 上皮内淋巴细胞; 五羟色胺; 多肽; 患者; 淋巴细胞性; 结肠炎; 计算机图像分析技术; 高密度; Immunohistochemistry; Peptide YY; Colon; Serotonin; Lymphocytic colitis; Computer image analysis
• ISSN: 1007-9327; 2219-2840; 2219-2840
• DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v18.i42.6070

AIM： TO investigate colonic endocrine cells in lympho- cytic colitis （LC） patients. METHODS： Fifty-seven patients with LC were in- cluded. These patients were 41 females and 16 males, with an average age of 49 years （range 19-84 years）. Twenty-seven subjects that underwent colonoscopy with biopsies were used as controls. These subjects underwent colonoscopy because of gastrointestinal bleeding or health worries, where the source of bleed- ing was identified as haemorrhoids or angiodysplasia. They were 19 females and 8 males with an average age of 49 years （range 18-67 years）. Biopsies from the right and left colon were obtained from both patients and controls during colonoscopy. Biopsies were fixed in 4% buffered paraformaldehyde, embedded in paraffin and cut into 5 μm-thick sections. The sections immunostained by the avidin-biotin-complex method for se- rotonin, peptide YY （PYY）, pancreatic polypeptide （PP） enteroglucagon and somatostatin cells. The cell densi- ties were quantified by computerised image analysis using Olympus software. RESULTS： The colon of both the patient and the control subjects were macroscopically normal. Histo- pathological examination of colon biopsies from con- trols revealed normal histology. All patients fulfilled the diagnosis criteria required for of LC： an increase in intraepithelial lymphocytes （〉 20 lymphocytes/100 epithelial cells） and surface epithelial damage with increased lamina propria plasma cells and absent or minimal crypt architectural distribution. In the colon of both patients and control subjects, serotonin-, PYY-, PP-, enteroglucagon- and somatostatin-immunoreac- tive cells were primarily located in the upper part of the crypts of Lieberk0hn. These cells were basket- or flask-shaped. There was no statistically significant dif- ference between the right and left colon in controls with regards to the densities of serotonin- and PYY- immunoreactive cells （P = 0.9 and 0.1, respectively）. Serotonin cell density in the right colon in controls was 28.9 ± 1.8 and in LC patients 41.6±2.6 （P = 0.008）. In the left colon, the corresponding figures were 28.5± 1.9 and 42.4± 2.9, respectively （P = 0.009）. PYY cell density in the right colon of the controls was 10.1 ± 1 and of LC patients 41 ± 4 （P = 0.00006）. In the left colon, PYY cell density in controls was 6.6± 1.2 and in LC patients 53.3 ± 4.6 （P = 0.00007）. CONCLUSION： The change in serotonin cells could be caused by an interaction between immune cells and serotonin cells, and that of PYY density might be sec- ondary.