Expansion of enterocytes expressing IL-15 in intestinal mucosa of paediatric patients with IBD.

<p>Enterocytes were identified as EpCam positive cells. (<b>A</b>) The percentage of EpCam positive cells, and (<b>B</b>) IL-15 and EpCam double positive cells were evaluated in freshly isolated intestinal cells, at basal condition without <i>in vitro</i> mitogen stimulation. Each point represents the percentage of positive cells from one single subject.(<b>C</b>) Flowcytometry dot plots of IL-15 and EpCam stained cells are reported from one representative subject of each group (CD, UC, HC). Horizontal bars are the median values. The Mann-Whitney U test was applied to evaluate statistical significant differences.