Anti IFI16 Antibodies in Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Their Variation with Infliximab Therapy in Comparison to Other Modalities of Treatment

Abstract

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterized by a chronic inflammation of the gut, partly driven by defects in the expression and function of pattern recognition receptors, including the IFI16 protein. This protein is a target for autoantibodies and its aberrant expression was reported in colonic mucosa from active patients with ulcerative colitis. The presence of anti-IFI16 IgG antibodies in sera has previously been reported by authors to be associated with a series of autoimmune diseases, whereas this is the first study also describing anti-IFI16 IgA distribution in parallel. The highest serum levels of IFI16 protein were found in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The aim of this cross sectional study was to assess the utility of IFI16 antibodies as a predictor of infliximab-induced remission in IBD patients in comparison to other modalities of treatment. To obtain this aim, we included 60 IBD patients & divided them into three groups, each group consisted of 20 patients in remission; Group I: received Infliximab therapy, Group II: received medical treatment apart from Infliximab and Group III: didn’t receive any therapy. We can sum up our results in the following: • CROHN'S disease was diagnosed by endoscopy and pathology in 19 (31.7%) patients while U.C. was diagnosed