Correlation of intestinal microflora with cytokines and Toll-like receptors expression in patients with ulcerative colitis

Li Lin; ZHONG Qing

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1007-8134.2017.06.012

Abstract：Objective To investigate the correlation of the changes of intestinal flora with the expression of cytokines and Toll-like receptors (TLRs) molecules in patients with ulcerative colitis.MethodsFrom June 2015 to December 2016, 78 patients with ulcerative colitis diagnosed and treated in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences were selected as the experimental group, and 80 healthy subjects were chosen as the control group. The intestinal flora detection, expression of TLR2, TLR4, TLR5, TLR9 molecules in intestinal mucosa, expression of IL-4, IL-6, IL-17, IL-23, TNF-α and other inflammatory cytokines in peripheral blood in the experimental group and control group were analyzed respectively. The correlation of inflammatory cytokines and the expression of TLRs with the change of intestinal flora was also analyzed.ResultsThe contents of bifidobacterium and lactobacillus in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.05), while the contents of bacteroides, enterobacter, enterococcus and fusobacterium were significantly higher (P<0.05). The expressions of TLR2, TLR4, TLR5 and TLR9 in intestinal mucosa of the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group (P<0.05). The expression of IL-4 in peripheral blood of the experimental group was lower than that of the control group, and the expressions of IL-6, IL-17, IL-23, TNF-α and other inflammatory cytokines were higher than that of the control group (P<0.05). Pearson correlation analysis showed that TLR2, TLR4, TLR5, TLR9 expressions were positively correlated with the contents of bacteroides, enterobacter and enterococcus, and negatively correlated with bifidobacterium and lactobacillus; it was also positively correlated with IL-6, IL-17, IL-23, TNF-α expression and negatively correlated with IL-4 expression.ConclusionsNormal intestinal flora balance of ulcerative colitis patients is broken, the expression of proinflammatory cytokines increases, the expression of proinflammatory factors decreases, and the expression of TLRs molecules increases. The disorder of intestinal flora promotes the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines by enhancing the expression of TLRs molecules and mediates the inflammatory response of the intestinal mucosa.