The aim of the current study was to investigate the expression of chemokine CCL20 in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients and in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced experimental colitis in mice. The expression of the CCL20 protein in colonic mucosa was detected in 65 UC patients and in 30 normal patients. A total of 40 female BALB/c mice were divided into a control and model group; the latter was fed a 5% DSS solution ad libitum for 7 days to induce experimental colitis. The disease activity index (DAI) and histological score were assessed and the expression of CCL20 mRNA and protein was determined. CCL20 was expressed in the UC group. It was either weakly expressed or not expressed in the normal control group. Additionally, the expression of CCL20 in the UC group was significantly higher compared with that in the control groups (P<0.01). The expression levels of CCL20 mRNA and protein were significantly increased in the model group compared with those in the control group (P<0.01) and positively correlated with the severity of colonic inflammation. The results from the present study demonsrtate that CCL20 positively correlates with UC. CCL20 may play a significant role in local damage and pathological changes in UC and may serve as a potential target for therapy.
Keywords: ulcerative colitis; chemokine; CCL20; pathological changes.