Matsushita M, Uchida K, Okazaki K
Third Department of Internal Medicine, Kansai Medical University, 2-3-1 Shinmachi, Hirakata, Osaka 573-1191, Japan.
Inflammopharmacology. 2007 Aug;15(4):154-7. doi: 10.1007/s10787-007-1563-7.
Although human appendix has been considered as a vestigial remnant, recent observations have focused attention on the role of the appendix in the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis (UC). Many case-control studies suggest that previous appendectomy is rare in UC patients. This inverse relation is limited to patients who undergo appendectomy before the age of 20 years. Moreover, several investigators reported the improvement of UC after appendectomy, especially in young patients. In the appendix of UC patients, the CD4/CD8 ratio is significantly increased, and the proportion of CD4+CD69+ (early activation antigen) T cells, but not of CD4+HLA-DR+ (mature activation antigen) T cells, is also significantly increased. These findings suggest that the appendix may be a priming site in the development of UC. Further studies including analysis of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells are necessary to clarify the role of the appendix in the pathogenesis of UC.
尽管人类阑尾一直被视为残留的退化器官，但最近的观察已将注意力集中在阑尾在溃疡性结肠炎（UC）发病机制中的作用上。许多病例对照研究表明，UC患者既往行阑尾切除术的情况很少见。这种反比关系仅限于20岁之前接受阑尾切除术的患者。此外，几位研究者报告称阑尾切除术后UC有所改善，尤其是在年轻患者中。在UC患者的阑尾中，CD4/CD8比值显著升高，CD4+CD69+（早期活化抗原）T细胞的比例也显著增加，但CD4+HLA-DR+（成熟活化抗原）T细胞的比例并未增加。这些发现表明，阑尾可能是UC发病过程中的一个起始部位。有必要进行包括分析CD4+和CD8+T细胞在内的进一步研究，以阐明阑尾在UC发病机制中的作用。
