Interaction between Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium bovis, Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis with the enteric glia and microglial cells

Our experiments demonstrated the adhesion of M. paratuberculosis to the enteroglial cells and the induction of IL-1A and IL-6 expression; M. tuberculosis and M. bovis showed a good adhesive capability to the enteric cell line with the expression of the following cytokines: IL-1A and IL-1B, TNF-α, G-CSF and GM-CSF; M. bovis induced the expression of IL-6 too.The experiment performed with the microglial cells confirmed the results obtained with the enteroglial cells after the infection with M. tuberculosis and M. bovis, whereas M. paratuberculosis stimulated the production of IL-1A and IL-1B.Enteroglial and microglial cells, could be the target of pathogenic mycobacteria and, even if present in different locations (Enteric Nervous System and Central Nervous System), show to have similar mechanism of immunomodulation.Together with neurons, glial cells form the nervous system; they have nutritive and supportive function also for neurons, isolate the nervous tissues and protect them from foreign bodies in case of injuries.These cells are known as microglial cells in the Central Nervous System (CNS), and as enteric glial cells in the Enteric Nervous System (ENS); they have identical morphologic and functional features and are functionally and immunologically correlated to the monocyte/macrophage cells.In Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), especially in Crohn's disease, a neurodegenerative state is steady. Therefore, changes in the nervous functions could represent an important link between inflammation and neurodegeneration, and this link could be represented by the glial cells, which have demonstrated to control the enteric neuronal functions [1-5]. In particular, alterations of the glial cells may be responsible of the increase of the mucosal barrier permeability, of the neuronal cells' proliferation and of the production of neurokines.All this confirms the leading role performed by the enteric glia in the inflammation and therefore it