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BACKGROUND: Recent studies have shown both interleukin 2 (IL-2) and interferon gamma (IFN) to be elevated in patients with active Crohn's disease compared to ulcerative colitis or non-inflammatory bowel disease controls. However the effect of treatment on these lymphokines has not been studied. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Using a reverse haemolytic plaque assay the percentage of lymphokine-secreting cells was determined in the intestinal mucosa of children with Crohn's disease before and after 8 weeks of treatment with either enteral nutrition, cyclosporin or steroids. RESULTS: Before treatment, a high percentage of cells isolated from mucosal biopsies secreted IL-2 or interferon-gamma. Eight weeks' treatment with the immunosuppressive agents cyclosporin, or with corticosteroids, produced a significant reduction in the percentage of IL-2 secreting cells, although only for the former was there also a reduction in interferon-gamma secreting cells. Enteral nutrition however, produced a reduction in lymphokine-secreting cells equivalent to cyclosporin and produced the best histological and clinical improvement. CONCLUSION: Enteral nutrition and cyclosporin can down-regulate lymphokine secretion in the gut in Crohn's disease.
Breese et al. (Sun,) studied this question.