Immunotherapeutic Effects of ß-D Mannuronic Acid on IL-4, GATA3, IL-17 and RORC Gene Expression in the PBMC of Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic relapsing immune-mediated disorders that result from an aberrant immunological response. IBD comprises of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). The precise aetiology of IBD has not been fully understood, however, recent studies support the hypothesis that patients with IBD have a dysregulated immune response to endogenous bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). The increasing number of hospitalisation coupled with the high economic burden faced by IBD patients, calls for more concerted research efforts, to design a potent and credible treatment option for these strata of patients. This research was designed to test the efficacy and potency of ß-D Mannuronic acid (M2000) in the treatment of IBD. Ten ml of blood was aseptically collected from 24 IBD patients and 24 normal controls. PBMC was isolated and stimulated with 1 µg/mL of LPS and incubated for 4 hours. The cells were later treated with 10 µg/mL or 50 µg/mL of Mannuronic acid and incubated for 24 hours at 370C under 5% CO2 and 100% humidity. After the incubation, RNA was extracted from the cells, cDNA was synthesised, and the expression of the gene was evaluated using quantitative real-time PCR. The result indicated a significant down-regulation of RORC and IL-17 genes expression, while the expression of IL-4 and GATA3 genes were significantly up-regulated. These research findings have shown that M2000 a biocompatible agent, that has an immunotherapeutic, immunomodulatory and immunosuppressive effects on the PBMC of IBD patients.