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Gruden E, Kienzl M, Ristic D, Kindler O, Kaspret DM, Schmid ST, Kargl J, Sturm E, Doyle AD, Wright BL, Baumann-Durchschein F, Konrad J, Blesl A, Schlager H, Schicho R. Mononuclear cell composition and activation in blood and mucosal tissue of eosinophilic esophagitis. Front Immunol 2024; 15:1347259. [PMID: 38318168 PMCID: PMC10839056 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1347259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic, inflammatory, antigen-driven disease of the esophagus. Tissue EoE pathology has previously been extensively characterized by novel transcriptomics and proteomic platforms, however the majority of surface marker determination and screening has been performed in blood due to mucosal tissue size limitations. While eosinophils, CD4+ T cells, mast cells and natural killer (NK) T cells were previously investigated in the context of EoE, an accurate picture of the composition of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and their activation is missing. Methods In this study, we aimed to comprehensively analyze the composition of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and their activation using surface marker measurements with multicolor flow cytometry simultaneously in both blood and mucosal tissue of patients with active EoE, inactive EoE, patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and controls. Moreover, we set out to validate our data in co-cultures of PBMC with human primary esophageal epithelial cells and in a novel inducible mouse model of eosinophilic esophagitis, characterized by extensive IL-33 secretion in the esophagus. Results Our results indicate that specific PBMC populations are enriched, and that they alter their surface expression of activation markers in mucosal tissue of active EoE. In particular, we observed upregulation of the immunomodulatory molecule CD38 on CD4+ T cells and on myeloid cells in biopsies of active EoE. Moreover, we observed significant upregulation of PD-1 on CD4+ and myeloid cells, which was even more prominent after corticosteroid treatment. With co-culture experiments we could demonstrate that direct cell contact is needed for PD-1 upregulation on CD4+ T cells. Finally, we validated our findings of PD-1 and CD38 upregulation in an inducible mouse model of EoE. Discussion Herein we show significant alterations in the PBMC activation profile of patients with active EoE in comparison to inactive EoE, GERD and controls, which could have potential implications for treatment. To our knowledge, this study is the first of its kind expanding the multi-color flow cytometry approach in different patient groups using in vitro and in vivo translational models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva Gruden
- Division of Pharmacology, Otto Loewi Research Center, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Melanie Kienzl
- Division of Pharmacology, Otto Loewi Research Center, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Dusica Ristic
- Division of Pharmacology, Otto Loewi Research Center, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Oliver Kindler
- Division of Pharmacology, Otto Loewi Research Center, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - David Markus Kaspret
- Division of Pharmacology, Otto Loewi Research Center, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Sophie Theresa Schmid
- Division of Pharmacology, Otto Loewi Research Center, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Julia Kargl
- Division of Pharmacology, Otto Loewi Research Center, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Eva Sturm
- Division of Pharmacology, Otto Loewi Research Center, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Alfred D. Doyle
- Division of Allergy, Asthma, and Clinical Immunology, Mayo Clinic Arizona, Scottsdale, AZ, United States
| | - Benjamin L. Wright
- Division of Allergy, Asthma, and Clinical Immunology, Mayo Clinic Arizona, Scottsdale, AZ, United States
| | - Franziska Baumann-Durchschein
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Julia Konrad
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Andreas Blesl
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Hansjörg Schlager
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Rudolf Schicho
- Division of Pharmacology, Otto Loewi Research Center, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
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