Abstract
Type A chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) is increased in type 1 diabetic patients (DM1). To address this issue, we determined and analyzed the number of peripheral blood regulatory T cells (Tregs) in 15 DM1-CAG patients, 15 DM1 patients without associated autoantibodies (DM1) and 15 healthy controls by flow cytometry and compared gastric Tregs expression (CD4+Foxp3+/CD4+) in DM1-CAG patients with that observed in 10 control Helicobacter pylori CAG-infected biopsies. The percentage of peripheral Tregs was higher in DM1-CAG patients compared to DM1 and controls (CD4+Foxp3+: 7.67 ± 1.91% vs. 5.38 ± 1.57% and 5.65 ± 1.76%, P < 0.001, respectively), with no differences between DM1 and controls. Gastric mucosal Tregs were higher in H. pylori CAG than in DM1-CAG patients (31.31 ± 5.52% vs. 7.68 ± 3.70%; P < 0.001). Data suggest that Tregs are stimulated in patients with more than one autoimmune disease (DM1 + CAG) in an ineffectual attempt to control autoimmune response and that the number of Tregs in gastric mucosa implicated in the chronification of gastritis differs according to the etiology.
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Acknowledgments
Prof Ricardo Pujol: for helpful suggestions and critical reading of the manuscript; Prof Mercè Martí: for providing us with part of the monoclonal antibodies used in flow cytometric analysis; Diogo Baia, for technical support in the initial phases of the study and Christine 0’Hara for valuable help with the English version of the manuscript. This study was supported in part by the Instituto de Investigación Carlos III, grants FIS PI05/0150 to Dr. A. Sanmartí.
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Alonso, N., Martínez-Arconada, M.J., Granada, M.L. et al. Regulatory T cells in type 1 diabetic patients with autoimmune chronic atrophic gastritis. Endocr 35, 420–428 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-009-9166-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-009-9166-2