Chemokine and Receptor Expression Profile in Response to Immunomodulatory Treatment in Tissue from Patients with Crohn’s Disease (TraffEC Study)

Background: Crohn’s disease (CD) is one of the two main forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Its incidence and prevalence are increasing both in Western countries and in developing regions. Chemokines are a subgroup of cytokines with chemotactic function, involved in the migration of immune system cells and therefore in the regulation of tissue homeostasis and inflammation in vivo. Immunomodulatory and immunosuppressive treatments—which interfere with different components of the innate and adaptive immune systems—as well as the degree of structural damage in different intestinal segments, may influence the expression of these chemokines and their receptors.
Objective: To identify the distribution of chemokine and chemokine‑receptor gene expression, not only in relation to administered treatments, but also comparatively across healthy, inflamed, and stenotic intestinal areas, when present, in patients with CD.
Design: Prospective observational study.
Patients and Methods: Patients diagnosed with CD undergoing ileocolonoscopy as part of their routine clinical management will be included. Non‑inflamed, inflamed, and stenotic tissue (when stenosis is present) will be evaluated in all patients. Key clinical and laboratory variables related to their IBD will be collected. Gene expression analyses of chemokines and chemokine receptors, as well as protein quantification in tissue homogenates, will be performed. A bio statistical hierarchical clustering transcriptomic analysis will also be conducted.