Imbalance of Follicular Double Positive and Follicular Double Negative T cells in Ulcerative Colitis Patients

Zyada, Khadega N,; El-Badawy, Omnia H.B.; Zahran, Asmaa M.; Medhat, Mohammed A.; Abdelmohsen, Ahmad S.; Badary, Mohamed S.; Rashwan, Ragaa S.

doi:10.21608/ejmm.2025.357802.1462

Imbalance of Follicular Double Positive and Follicular Double Negative T cells in Ulcerative Colitis Patients

Document Type : New and original researches in the field of Microbiology.

Authors

¹ Microbiology and Immunology Department of, Faculty of Pharmacy, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt

² Medical Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt

³ Clinical Pathology Department, South Egypt Cancer Institute, Assiut University

⁴ Tropical Medicine and Gastroenterology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt

10.21608/ejmm.2025.357802.1462

Abstract

Background: Double-positive (DP) and double-negative (DN) thymocytes are well-characterized stages of T cell development in the thymus. Disturbances in their levels have been previously observed in chronic inflammatory diseases and autoimmune disorders. Objective: This study aimed to analyze follicular DP and DN T cell levels in ulcerative colitis patients' peripheral blood and colon tissue biopsy and determine whether their levels correlate with disease severity. Methodology: This study involved 22 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and 18 healthy controls. Flow cytometry was used to measure the total levels of DP and DN T cells and their subsets in each participant's peripheral blood and colon tissue biopsy. Results: DP T cells were higher in tissue than in the blood samples. DN T cells were lower in tissue than the blood but higher in patients than control tissues. Differences were observed in the tissue levels of follicular DP and DN cells and their expression levels of CD154 compared with blood and in severe compared with non-severe cases. Conclusion: Levels of DP and DN follicular T cells are higher in the tissue of UC patients than in blood, with higher expression of CD154 in tissues. Levels of these cells are higher in more severe cases and show good efficiencies in predicting disease severity. Further research is needed to assess whether these cells have a role in the inflammatory process in UC.

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