Pharmacogenomic analysis of rhIL-11 treatment in the HLA-B27 rat model of inflammatory bowel disease

Recombinant human interleukin-11 ( rhIL-11 ) reduces the clinical signs and histological lesions of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in transgenic rats expressing the human major histocompatability complex (MHC) class I allele, HLA-B27 . To elucidate the pharmacogenomic effects of rhIL-11 in this model, we examined the global gene expression pattern in inflamed colonic tissue before and following rhIL-11 treatment using oligonucleotide microarrays. In total, 175 disease-related genes were identified. Increased expression of genes involved in antigen presentation, cell death and inflammation, and decreased expression of metabolic genes was associated with disease. A total of 27 disease-related genes returned to normal expression levels following rhIL-11 treatment including the MHC class II gene RT1 - DMβ . rhIL-11 induced the expression of four intestinal epithelial growth factors. These gene expression patterns indicate that treatment of inflammatory bowel disease with rhIL-11 affects class II antigen processing and colonic epithelial cell proliferation and metabolism.