Impact of 6-Mercaptopurine on Enteric Gliosis

Inflammatory diseases of the gut, such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, are a persistent  burden for many patients all over the world. Interestingly, a growing body of evidence indicates that the enteric nervous system and especially enteric glial cells play a crucial role in the development and maintenance of inflammatory reactions of the gut. Therefore, this study investigated whether pharmaceuticals that are commonly used in the therapy of inflammatory diseases of the gut, for instance 6 mercaptopurine, have an impact  on inflammatory reactions in enteric glial cells . Using two different types of cell models and analytical methods like whole transcriptome microarray, RT-qPCR and ELISA, this project demonstrated that enteric glial cells were a relevant source of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines, whose expression was, at least partly, modified in presence of 6 mercaptopurine.