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TCR Vβ expression in the small bowel of patients with dermatitis herpetiformis and gluten sensitive enteropathy
Author(s) -
Hall R. P.,
Owen S.,
Smith A.,
Keough M.,
Bagheri B.,
Church P.,
Streilein R.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
experimental dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.108
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1600-0625
pISSN - 0906-6705
DOI - 10.1034/j.1600-0625.2000.009004275.x
Subject(s) - dermatitis herpetiformis , enteropathy , medicine , asymptomatic , gluten , t cell receptor , immunology , inflammatory bowel disease , gluten free , disease , dermatology , pathology , t cell , immune system
Dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) is a blistering skin disease characterized by cutaneous deposits of IgA and an associated, most often asymptomatic, gluten sensitive enteropathy (GSE). Gluten sensitive enteropathy is also seen in patients that do not have skin disease or cutaneous IgA deposits, but do have significant gastrointestinal (GI) complaints. Patients with DH and with GSE without skin disease have similar small bowel morphologic changes and HLA associations and both the skin disease and the GI symptoms can be controlled by a gluten free diet. It is not known what factors allow almost all patients with DH to continue to eat gluten and not develop symptomatic gastrointestinal disease. We have examined the expression of the Vβ T‐cell receptor (TCR) in the small bowel of patients with DH ( n =11) and of patients with both symptomatic ( n =10) and asymptomatic ( n =7) GSE without skin disease to determine if differences in the pattern of TCR Vβ expression are associated with differences in the clinical manifestations of these diseases. TCR Vβ expression was analyzed using RT‐PCR from small bowel biopsies. Patients with DH and those with GSE without skin disease that were on a gluten free diet and asymptomatic were found to express 6.6 and 5.6 out of 20 Vβ families respectively, with no single family preference. Examination of peripheral blood lymphocytes from these patients did not reveal any restriction of TCR Vβ family expression. In contrast, patients with symptomatic GSE expressed 12.6 Vβ families ( P < 0.05), with no consistent preferential expression of any single Vβ family between patients. Patients with DH, who are continuing to ingest wheat, show a more restricted pattern of TCR Vβ utilization, similar to that of treated patients with GSE without skin disease, and significantly different from GSE without skin disease patients eating gluten. These findings suggest that the restricted nature of the TCR Vβ expression may play a role in the different clinical manifestations of dermatitis herpetiformis and isolated gluten sensitive enteropathy.