Influence of inflammation and treatment on ileal and colonic antimicrobial defensin expression in active Crohn's disease

Aims: Crohn's Disease (CD) has been linked to different functional deficiencies of antimicrobial defensins. Ileal CD is characterized by reduced expression of α-defensins (HD5, HD6). The mechanism is a compromised WNT/Tcf4 stem cell differentiation pathway and -in some cases- a mutation in NOD2. Colonic CD is mediated by an attenuated induction of β-defensins (HBD2, HBD3) which is due to a gene copy number polymorphism. Herein, we aimed to address if current treatments of CD influence the defensin expression in clinical samples. Methods: Biopsies were collected from inflamed CD tissue of the small (n=55) and lar…