Objectives: Behçet's disease has been historically classified as a Th1 disease. The recently described IL-17/IL-23 pathway seems to play an important role in many inflammatory diseases and in the intestinal abnormalities of AS and CD. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the IL-17/IL-23 axis in parallel with Th1 and IL-27 response in the intestine of patients with BD and gastrointestinal abnormalities.
Methods: Quantitative TaqMan reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was utilised for all determinations on ileal biopsy specimens obtained from BD, AS and CD patients. The serum levels of Th1 and Th17 cytokines were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results: A Th1 but not a Th17 response is present in the gastrointestinal involvement of Behçet's disease.
Conclusions: Although BD shares clinical manifestations with both CD and AS, the immunologic abnormalities seen in the intestine are quite different, indicating that other immune mechanisms should be taken into account.