Characterization of γδ T cells in intestinal mucosa from patients with early onset or long standing inflammatory bowel disease and their correlation with clinical status

Inflammatory bowel disease is a complex chronic inflammatory disease of the human gut with no clear etiology. Traditionally, dysregulated adaptive immune responses play an important role even though accumulating evidence suggest a role also for innate immunity. Because of the well known plasticity of γδ T cells, we investigated their percentage, phenotypical features and effector functions in the intestinal mucosa of early onset and long standing IBD patients, as compared to healthy subjects.