| pubmed-article:1556433 | pubmed:abstractText | Ten patients with tropical sprue (TS) and 10 with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) as controls were studied to characterize the immunocytes in the jejunal mucosa. IgA cells numbered 516,155 +/- 48,715 cells/mm3 in TS and 729,308 +/- 146,011/mm3 in the IBS patients. IgG cell counts were 28,885 +/- 8,081/mm3 in TS and 10,615 +/- 4,100/mm3 in IBS; IgM counts were 170,729 +/- 25,015/mm3 in TS and 169,253 +/- 45,353/mm3 in IBS. A positive correlation was present between IgM-bearing plasma cells and corresponding serum immunoglobulins (r = +0.71; p less than 0.05). No correlation was evident between the different immunocytes (IgA, IgG, and IgM) and the duration of illness, serum albumin, and tests for absorption of fat, B-12, and D-xylose (p greater than 0.05). The gut immunocytes expressed in absolute numbers were higher in our controls and TS patients than reported in Western populations. | lld:pubmed |
