Fermentable dietary fiber potentiates the localization of immune cells in the rat large intestinal crypts

Intestinal crypts are composed of a well-defined hierarchy of epithelial cells, and proliferating epithelial cells reside close to the bottom of the crypts-even in the large intestine. We investigated whether CD8(+)and CD4(+)intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) and CD161(+) natural killer (NK) cells localized in proliferating or differentiated epithelial region of cecum and colon. Both proliferating epithelial layer cells and the immune cells along the longitudinal crypt axis of the large intestine were measured histochemically. Dietary intervention revealed that the physiological localization of the immune cells in the longitudinal crypt axis depended on the immune cell type. CD8(+) IELs were preferentially located among differentiated epithelial cells. In contrast, CD161(+) NK cells were located adjacent to the epithelial cells at the bottom of crypt. Cecal crypts contained significantly larger numbers of CD8(+) IELs than did colonic crypts. However, there was only a minor population of CD4(+) IEL in the cecal and colonic epithelia. Some dietary fibers increased the densities of CD8(+) IELs and CD161(+) NK cells in the cecum, with the magnitude of response varying among the types of fiber. There was a significant relationship between SCFA and the localization of immune cells, especially CD8(+) IEL and CD161(+) NK cells, which are considered to be involved in the maintenance of epithelial homeostasis.