Disruption of the Integrity of Human Peritoneal Mesothelium by Interleukin-1beta and Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

Inflammatory and neoplastic disease processes of the abdominal cavity are frequently associated with disruption of the integrity of the peritoneal mesothelium. In the present study, we analyzed the effects of the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) on the morphology and expression of adhesion molecules of human peritoneal mesothelial cells (HPMC). Treatment of HPMC with IL-1beta and TNF-alpha resulted in a time- and dose-dependent alteration of the normal cobblestone morphology of the mesothelium with loss of polarization, cellular retraction and exposure of the submesothelial matrix. The effect was already observable after 6 h of treatment and was most pronounced at a dose of 10 ng/ml of IL-1beta or TNF-alpha. These morphological alterations were associated with a significant rearrangement of the expression of mesothelial adhesion molecules as detected by flow cytometry. IL-1beta and TNF-alpha both led to a loss of the expression of the hemidesmosomal integrin subunits alpha6 ( P<0.01 and P<0.001) and beta4 ( P<0.01) and an increased expression of the integrin subunit alpha5 ( P<0.001 and P<0.01). IL-1beta furthermore upregulated the expression of the integrin subunits alpha1, alpha2 and the adhesion molecule CD44 while the latter was downregulated by TNF-alpha. Our data indicate that IL-1beta and TNF-alpha may significantly affect disease processes of the abdominal cavity by their potential to disrupt the mesothelial basal cell-matrix adhesion and, thus, the integrity of the peritoneal mesothelial cell lining.