Duodenal IgE and mast cells changes in diabetes mellitus patients

Abstract

Aims: To determine the differences in duodenal biopsies of diabetes mellitus (DM) patients and non-diabetic patients by investigating the numbers of immunoglobulin E (IgE) positive plasma cells, IgE positive mast cells, and eosinophils. Methods: Patients diagnosed with chronic duodenitis and DM and those diagnosed only with chronic duodenitis within between 2010-2020 years were detected from the hospital information system. Paraffin blocks and hematoxylin-eosin-stained preparations of the patients’ duodenal biopsies were obtained from the hospital’s pathology archive. By performing IgE immunohistochemical staining for all blocks, the sections were evaluated through light microscopy. Results: A total of 75 patients, 45 with DM and 30 non-diabetic patients with chronic duodenitis were included in the study. While IgE accumulation was prominently detected in the plasma cells and mast cells of DM patients’ duodenal tissue samples, no significant IgE accumulation was detected in the biopsies of non-diabetic patients with chronic duodenitis. Conclusion: To date, the effectiveness of mast cells, IgE, and duodenal histological changes in DM have been proven, but our study is the first to detect the increase in mast cells and IgE in duodenal biopsies of DM patients. High IgE in the duodenum could support the relationship between DM and food allergy. We consider that higher IgE antibodies detected in diabetic patients’ duodenums will reveal promising novel results in elucidating DM pathophysiology and regulating the treatment modalities, and will shed light on future studies.