{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,23]],"date-time":"2026-08-23T18:07:46Z","timestamp":1787508466130,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,16]],"date-time":"2020-09-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1600214400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Cells"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a connective tissue disorder which key feature is a fibrotic process. The role of Endothelin-1 (ET-1) and T-helper (Th)-1 cells in lung and skin fibrosis is well known, although Th17- and Treg-cells were found to be involved. However, no studies analyzed cytokines expression in gastric-juice of SSc patients. Our study aimed to evaluate proinflammatory and profibrotic cytokines in gastric-juice of SSc patients and to investigate their correlations with esophageal dysmotility. Methods: Patients performed upper-gastrointestinal-endoscopy with gastric-juice collection, esophageal manometry and thoracic CT-scan. GM-CSF, ET-1, Th-1 (IFN-\u03b3, IL-1\u03b2, TNF-\u03b1, IL-2, IL-6, IL-9), Th-17 (IL-17, IL-21, IL-22, IL-23) and T-reg (IL-10, TGF-\u03b2) related cytokines were measured in 29 SSc-patients and 20 healthy-controls. Results: Patients showed significant lower levels of IL-6, IL-17, IL-22 and ET-1 (p &lt; 0.005) compared with controls. Patients with atrophic gastritis presented significant lower levels of IL-2, IL-9, IL-6, TGF-\u03b2, GM-CSF, IL-17 and ET-1 (p &lt; 0.005) compared to patients without gastritis. Increased values of IL-2, IL-9, IL-1\u03b2, IL-17, ET-1 and GM-CSF (p &lt; 0.005) were observed in patients with esophageal impairment. This is the first report of cytokines measurement in gastric juice of patients with SSc. The high IL-17 concentrations in gastric-juice of scleroderma patients with esophageal dysmotility support the signature of Th-17 cells in scleroderma esophageal fibrosis.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/cells9092106","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,16]],"date-time":"2020-09-16T10:30:12Z","timestamp":1600252212000},"page":"2106","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["Gastric Juice Expression of Th-17 and T-Reg Related Cytokines in Scleroderma Esophageal Involvement"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Stefania","family":"Nicola","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Sciences, Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit, University of Torino &amp; Mauriziano Hospital, 10128 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Giovanni","family":"Rolla","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Sciences, Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit, University of Torino &amp; Mauriziano Hospital, 10128 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Caterina","family":"Bucca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Sciences, Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit, University of Torino &amp; Mauriziano Hospital, 10128 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Giada","family":"Geronazzo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Sciences, Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit, University of Torino &amp; Mauriziano Hospital, 10128 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Irene","family":"Ridolfi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Sciences, Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit, University of Torino &amp; Mauriziano Hospital, 10128 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrea","family":"Ferraris","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Diagnostic Imaging, Department of Surgical Sciences, Citt\u00e0 della Salute e della Scienza Hospital, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Enrico","family":"Fusaro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Rheumatology Department, Azienda Ospedaliera Citt\u00e0 della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, 10126 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Clara Lisa","family":"Peroni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Rheumatology Department, Azienda Ospedaliera Citt\u00e0 della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, 10126 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Luca","family":"Dughera","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Digestive Motility and Endoscopy, Department of Medicine, Citt\u00e0 della Salute e della Scienza, 10126 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Luisa","family":"Brussino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Sciences, Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit, University of Torino &amp; Mauriziano Hospital, 10128 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"132","DOI":"10.1016\/j.semarthrit.2007.10.010","article-title":"The immunobiology of systemic sclerosis","volume":"38","author":"Gu","year":"2008","journal-title":"Semin. 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