Fibrotic and Vascular Remodelling of Colonic Wall in Patients with Active Ulcerative Colitis.

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS:

Intestinal fibrosis is a complication of inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]. Although fibrostenosis is a rare event in ulcerative colitis [UC], there is evidence that a fibrotic rearrangement of the colon occurs in the later stages. This is a retrospective study aimed at examining the histopathological features of the colonic wall in both short-lasting [SL] and long-lasting [LL] UC.

METHODS:

Surgical samples of left colon from non-stenotic SL [≤ 3 years, n = 9] and LL [≥ 10 years, n = 10] UC patients with active disease were compared with control colonic tissues from cancer patients without UC [n = 12] to assess: collagen and elastic fibres by histochemistry; vascular networks [CD31/CD105/nestin] by immunofluorescence; parameters of fibrosis [types I and III collagen, fibronectin, RhoA, alpha-smooth muscle actin [α-SMA], desmin, vimentin], and proliferation [proliferating nuclear antigen [PCNA]] by western blot and/or immunolabelling.

RESULTS:

Colonic tissue from both SL-UC and LL-UC showed tunica muscularis thickening and transmural activated neovessels [displaying both proliferating CD105-positive endothelial cells and activated nestin-positive pericytes], as compared with controls. In LL-UC, the increased collagen deposition was associated with an up-regulation of tissue fibrotic markers [collagen I and III, fibronectin, vimentin, RhoA], an enhancement of proliferation [PCNA] and, along with a loss of elastic fibres, a rearrangement of the tunica muscularis towards a fibrotic phenotype.

CONCLUSIONS:

A significant transmural fibrotic thickening occurs in colonic tissue from LL-UC, together with a cellular fibrotic switch in the tunica muscularis. A full-thickness angiogenesis is also evident in both SL- and LL-UC with active disease, as compared with controls.

• Authors: Chiara Ippolito, Rocchina Colucci, Cristina Segnani, Mariella Errede, Francesco Girolamo, Daniela Virgintino, Amelio Dolfi, Erika Tirotta, Piero Buccianti, Giulio Di Candio, Daniela Campani, Maura Castagna, Gabrio Bassotti, Vincenzo Villanacci, Corrado Blandizzi, Nunzia Bernardini
• Journal: Journal of Crohn's & colitis (J Crohns Colitis) Vol. 10 Issue 10 Pg. 1194-204 (Oct 2016) ISSN: 1876-4479 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 26995183 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2016 European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: [email protected].

Chemical References

• Biomarkers

Topics

• Acute Disease
• Adult
• Aged
• Biomarkers (metabolism)
• Blotting, Western
• Case-Control Studies
• Colitis, Ulcerative (pathology)
• Colon (blood supply, metabolism, pathology)
• Disease Progression
• Female
• Fibrosis
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Retrospective Studies
• Single-Blind Method
• Vascular Remodeling