Ileal mucus viscoelastic properties differ in Crohn’s disease

• DOI: 10.1016/j.mucimm.2024.05.002
• Publication Date: 2024-05-14T01:57:54Z
• Authors: Catharina Kramer; Hanna Rulff; Jörn Felix Ziegler; Paul Wilhelm Mönch; Nadra Alzain; Annalisa Addante; Aditi Kuppe; Sara Timm; Petra Schrade; Philip Bischoff; Rainer Glauben; Julia Dürr; Matthias Ochs; Marcus A. Mall; Michael Gradzielski; Britta Siegmund
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; Crohn’s disease; 03 medical and health sciences; terminal ileum; viscoelastic moduli; human mucus; 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften::610 Medizin und Gesundheit::610 Medizin und Gesundheit; CD

Crohn's disease (CD) is an inflammatory bowel disease that can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract, frequently involving the terminal ileum. While colonic mucus alterations in CD patients have been described, terminal ileal mucus and its mechanobiological properties have been neglected. Our study is the first of its kind to decipher the viscoelastic and network properties of ileal mucus. With that aim, oscillatory rheological shear measurements based on an airway mucus protocol that was thoroughly validated for ileal mucus were performed. Our pilot study analyzed terminal ileum mucus from controls (n = 14) and CD patients (n = 14). Mucus network structure was visualized by scanning electron microscopy. Interestingly, a statistically significant increase in viscoelasticity as well as a decrease in mesh size was observed in ileal mucus from CD patients compared to controls. Furthermore, rheological data were analyzed in relation to study participants’ clinical characteristics, revealing a noteworthy trend between non-smokers and smokers. In conclusion, this study provides the first data on the viscoelastic properties and structure of human ileal mucus in the healthy state and Crohn’s disease, demonstrating significant alterations between groups and highlighting the need for further research on mucus and its effect on the underlying epithelial barrier.