Table 3.
Expression of co-stimulatory molecules in dendritic cells (DCs) from mesenteric lymph nodes in colorectal cancer patients, ‘no-cancer’ control subjects and patients with inflammatory bowel conditions
| Intergroup differences: Mann–Whitney U-test (P-value) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patients with colorectal cancer (group a) | ‘No-cancer’ control subjects (group b) | Patients with inflammatory bowel conditions (group c) | a versus b | a versus c | b versus c | |
| Number of patients | 33 | 3 | 12 | |||
| CD40+ DCs prevalence (%) | 6·0 | 7·1 | 22·0 | 0·84 | 0·0001 | 0·02 |
| (4·0–10·0) | (4·1–9·5) | (16·0–25·0) | ||||
| CD40+ DCs immunofluorescence | 274·0 | 342·2 | 140·9 | 0·47 | 0·007 | 0·10 |
| (mean fluorescence intensity) | (191·3–339·1) | (220·4–350·3) | (94·8–236·0) | |||
| CD80+ DCs prevalence (%) | 3·0 | 1·4 | 13·7 | 0·06 | 0·0001 | 0·009 |
| (2·0–4·5) | (0–1·6) | (7·5–21·0) | ||||
| CD80+ DCs immunofluorescence | 165·7 | 183·9 | 83·4 | 0·75 | 0·004 | 0·77 |
| (mean fluorescence intensity) | (130·6–215·6) | (0–185·5) | (53·9–148·9) | |||
| CD86+ DCs prevalence (%) | 15·5 | 4·0 | 40·0 | 0·05 | 0·0001 | 0·009 |
| (10·0–21·0) | (4·0–12·0) | (34·5–54·0) | ||||
| CD86+ DCs immunofluorescence | 255·0 | 241·8 | 153·5 | 0·74 | 0·04 | 0·15 |
| (mean fluorescence intensity) | (190·2–342·0) | (207·9–421·7) | (142·6–278·1) | |||
DCs[lineage 1 negative (CD3¯, CD14¯, CD16¯, CD19¯, CD20¯, CD56¯) and HLA-DR positive cells] in mononuclear lymph node suspensions were identified by flow cytometry, and the prevalence and intensity of immunofluorescence of CD40, CD80, CD86 positive DCs were defined from the DC population using the appropriate isotype control. All values shown are medians and interquartile ranges, and all analyses were performed using the Mann–Whitney U-test. P < 0·05 was considered significant.