Inflammation in the peripheral blood system of Crohn's Disease

Crohn's disease (CD) is an inflammatory bowel disease that is characterized by chronic inflammation of digestive system and has a nickname “green cancer” because of its sustained alternation of periods of flares and remissions. Here, we investigated the inflammation changes in peripheral blood system of CD patients, which are less reported in China. Peripheral blood samples of 167 CD patients and 30 healthy people, as well as their clinical information, were collected at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University. Flow cytometry was performed to analyze the ratio of CD4 T cells to CD8 T cells. Cytometric Bead Array kit was used to detect the cytokines in peripheral blood in CD patients. Moreover, the expression of inflammasomes was also detected by RT-PCR. The percentage and cell number of lymphocytes in CD patients’ peripheral blood system decreased significantly, while monocytes increased remarkably. Interestingly, there was an inversion of the CD4 T cells/CD8 T cells ratio in peripheral blood of CD patients. The levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) increased significantly in CD patients’ peripheral blood, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation aggravate inflammatory response. In addition, the expression of nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor family, pyrin domain-containing 1 (NLRP1) and NLRP3 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of CD patients increased significantly after LPS stimulation. The inflammation in peripheral blood of CD patients had significant changes, including PBMC, cytokines and inflammasomes. These results are helpful to get a deeper understanding of CD and improve the efficiency of diagnosis and treatment in China.