Neutralising autoantibodies against IL-10 and HLA-DRB1*01:03 in paediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Gharahdaghi N., Yeh P-J., Vadakethala K., Coy M., Kabiri L., Naz B., Jayamanne C., Hansson L., Zouboulis V., Rodrigues A., Howarth L., Alqahtani F., Ghate A., Vázquez López F., Green Z., Beattie RM., Gasparetto M., Nedelkopoulou N., Iyengar A., Gopan A., Croft NM., Grimaldi C., Kammermeier J., Jones K., Barendregt DMH., Chen M., Barnardo M., Zhang Q., Fachal L., Anderson CA., Adams A., Johnson H., Gordon H., Tal N., Renji E., Wilson DC., Henderson P., Muhammed R., Lee KY., Kapoor A., Levi R., Zilbauer M., Griffiths AM., Turner D., Hambleton S., Doffinger R., Samsom JN., UK PIBD BioResource ., Parkes M., Travis SP., Shouval DS., de Ridder L., Muise A., Snapper SB., Ashton JJ., Ennis S., Uhlig HH.

Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is an essential regulator of intestinal immune homeostasis. Neutralising autoantibodies against IL-10 (anti-IL-10) have been identified in children and also adult patients with IBD. Positivity for anti-IL-10 autoantibodies was associated with carriage of HLA-DRB1*01:03 allele. To determine the prevalence of anti-IL-10 in paediatric IBD and assess the associated clinical phenotype. We conducted a cross-sectional multicentre study across paediatric IBD cohorts from four countries. Anti-IL-10 antibodies were investigated in serum and plasma from paediatric patients with IBD (mean age of IBD onset 11.2±3.8 years). IL-10-neutralisation capacity was confirmed by functional IL-10 reporter assay, competitive ELISA and cytokine release assay. Clinical data were analysed to evaluate disease phenotype and treatment outcomes, with comparison with matched controls. HLA-DRB1*01:03 analysis was performed. Anti-IL-10 positivity was identified in 26/1045 paediatric patients with IBD (2.5%) (Crohn's disease n=6, UC n=19, IBD unclassified n=1; IBD diagnosis age of 13±3 years). Anti-IL-10 autoantibodies were of the IgG class and amplified pro-inflammatory cytokine responses in vitro. Anti-IL-10-positive patients exhibited more severe disease compared with matched controls, including an increased prevalence of difficult-to-treat disease (23% vs 6%, p=0.03), higher rate of acute severe UC (26% vs 6%; p=0.038) and higher rates of colectomy (27% vs 6%, p=0.01). Eighty percent (16/20) of anti-IL-10-positive patients with available HLA data carried the HLA-DRB1*01:03 allele, compared with 1.5% in the anti-IL-10-negative group. Anti-IL-10 autoantibodies are present in a subgroup of paediatric patients with IBD and are associated with difficult-to-treat disease.

DOI

10.1136/gutjnl-2026-339329

Type

Journal article

Publication Date

2026-08-01T00:00:00+00:00

Addresses

Centre for Human Genetics, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.

Keywords

UK PIBD BioResource

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