SavedAdd your journal

Journals / Recent Trends in Pharmacology / 2026 / Volume: 4 Issue: 2

Loss of Epithelial Intelectin-1 and Altered Epithelial–Stromal Distribution across Colorectal Pathological Conditions

Rofanda Bakeer(Department of Pathology, Helwan University, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo, Egypt)0000-0001-8202-2999
Omar Ahmed-Farid(Department of Physiology, Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA Former NODCAR), Giza, Egypt)0000-0002-1020-5777
Amira N. Abd-El Razik(Department of Pathology, Medical Research and Clinical Studies Institute - National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza 12622, Egypt)0000-0001-8202-2881
Pages
—
Publication Date
2026-08-28
🏛️Bibliographic metadata and full text access for this article are provided via DergiPark.
DergiPark Record ↗
✨

AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

Results: The results demonstrated a progressive reduction in ITLN1 immunoreactivity across the studied pathological conditions, with the lowest staining intensity, positive area, H-score, and relative integrated optical density observed in colorectal adenocarcinoma.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:Objective: Intelectin-1 (ITLN1) is an adipokine involved in metabolic and immune regulation, yet its spatial expression and potential contribution to colorectal tumor progression and microenvironmental remodeling remain incompletely understood.
📊
Key Findings & Data:This study investigated the expression and spatial distribution of ITLN1 across distinct colorectal pathological conditions.
💡
Conclusion & Impact:Results: The results demonstrated a progressive reduction in ITLN1 immunoreactivity across the studied pathological conditions, with the lowest staining intensity, positive area, H-score, and relative integrated optical density observed in colorectal adenocarcinoma.
🔬Design:Modeling & Simulation
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:ITLN1 · colorectal neoplasia · immunohistochemistry

Abstract

Objective: Intelectin-1 (ITLN1) is an adipokine involved in metabolic and immune regulation, yet its spatial expression and potential contribution to colorectal tumor progression and microenvironmental remodeling remain incompletely understood. This study investigated the expression and spatial distribution of ITLN1 across distinct colorectal pathological conditions. Methods: A total of 60 patients were categorized into four groups: hyperplastic polyps, conventional adenomas, inflammatory bowel disease, and colorectal carcinoma. ITLN1 expression was evaluated using immunohistochemistry (IHC) combined with digital image analysis to quantitatively assess its localization within epithelial and stromal compartments. Histopathological examination using routine hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining provided a structural context for correlating ITLN1 expression with architectural features and degrees of dysplasia. Results: The results demonstrated a progressive reduction in ITLN1 immunoreactivity across the studied pathological conditions, with the lowest staining intensity, positive area, H-score, and relative integrated optical density observed in colorectal adenocarcinoma. In parallel, the epithelial predominance of ITLN1 expression was progressively reduced, with G4 adenocarcinoma showing a marked loss of epithelial ITLN1 expression and the highest proportion of ITLN1-negative glands. Conclusion: These findings indicate that colorectal adenocarcinoma is characterized primarily by an overall loss of ITLN1 expression accompanied by loss of its epithelial predominance, rather than an absolute increase in stromal ITLN1.

🔖

Cite This Article

Bakeer, R., Ahmed-Farid, O., Razik, A. N. A. (2026). Loss of Epithelial Intelectin-1 and Altered Epithelial–Stromal Distribution across Colorectal Pathological Conditions. Recent Trends in Pharmacology, Volume: 4 Issue: 2. https://doi.org/10.62425/rtpharma.1947838

📄 Full Text PDF Viewer

📄

PDF görüntüleyici hazırlanıyor...

References (52)

  1. Amin, M. B., Edge, S. B., Greene, F. L., Byrd, D. R., Brookland, R. K., Washington, M. K., Gershenwald, J. E., Compton, C. C., Hess, K. R., Sullivan, D. C., Jessup, J. M., Brierley, J. D., Gaspar, L. E., Schilsky, R. L., Balch, C. M., Winchester, D. P., Asare, E. A., Madera, M., Gress, D. M., & Meyer, L. R. (Eds.). (2017). AJCC Cancer Staging Manual (8th ed.). Springer.
  2. Bankhead, P., Loughrey, M. B., Fernández, J. A., Dombrowski, Y., McArt, D. G., Dunne, P. D., McQuaid, S., Gray, R. T., Murray, L. J., Coleman, H. G., James, J. A., Salto-Tellez, M., & Hamilton, P. W. (2017). QuPath: Open source software for digital pathology image analysis. Scientific Reports, 7, 16878. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-17204-5
  3. Bruni, D., Angell, H. K., & Galon, J. (2020). The immune contexture and Immunoscore in cancer prognosis and therapeutic efficacy. Nature Reviews Cancer, 20(11), 662–680. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41568-020-0285-7 (Nature)
  4. Cendrowicz, E., Sas, Z., Bremer, E., & Rygiel, T. P. (2023). The colorectal cancer tumor microenvironment and its impact on liver and lung metastasis. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 24(3), 2009. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24032009
  5. Chen, L., Li, J., & Yang, G. (2020). A comparative review of intelectins. Scandinavian Journal of Immunology, 92(1), e12882. https://doi.org/10.1111/sji.12882
  6. Czechowski, P., Hagemann, T., Ghosh, A., Sun, W., Dong, H., Noé, F., Niersmann, C., Reinisch, I., Wolfrum, C., Herder, C., Dietrich, A., Blüher, M., & Hoffmann, A. (2024). Expression of Intelectin-1, also known as Omentin-1, is related to clinical phenotypes such as overweight, obesity, insulin resistance, and changes after bariatric surgery. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 22286. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-72720-5
  7. de Souza Batista, C. M., Yang, R. Z., Lee, M. J., Glynn, N. M., Yu, D. Z., Pray, J., Ndubuizu, K., Patil, S., Schwartz, A., Kligman, M., Fried, S. K., Gong, D. W., Shuldiner, A. R., Pollin, T. I., & McLenithan, J. C. (2007). Omentin plasma levels and gene expression are decreased in obesity. Diabetes, 56(6), 1655–1661. https://doi.org/10.2337/db06-1506
  8. Dekker, E., Tanis, P. J., Vleugels, J. L. A., Kasi, P. M., & Wallace, M. B. (2019). Colorectal cancer. The Lancet, 394(10207), 1467–1480. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(19)32319-0
  9. Dienstmann, R., Vermeulen, L., Guinney, J., Kopetz, S., Tejpar, S., & Tabernero, J. (2017). Consensus molecular subtypes and the evolution of precision medicine in colorectal cancer. Nature Reviews Cancer, 17(2), 79–92. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc.2016.126
  10. Fearon, E. R. (2011). Molecular genetics of colorectal cancer. Annual Review of Pathology: Mechanisms of Disease, 6, 479–507. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-pathol-011110-130235
  11. Filimontseva, A., Cuadros, T., Chatterton, Z., Burke, A., Mahabadian, A. A., Compte, J., Fu, Y. H., Vila, M., & Halliday, G. M. (2025). Standardised TruAI automated quantification of intracellular neuromelanin granules in human brain tissue sections. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.01.20.633975
  12. Fitzgibbons, P. L., Bradley, L. A., Fatheree, L. A., Alsabeh, R., Fulton, R. S., Goldsmith, J. D., Haas, T. S., Karabakhtsian, R. G., Loykasek, P. A., Marolt, M. J., Shen, S. S., Smith, A. T., & Swanson, P. E. (2014). Principles of analytic validation of immunohistochemical assays. Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, 138(11), 1432–1443. https://doi.org/10.5858/arpa.2013-0610-RA
  13. Galon, J., & Bruni, D. (2020). The immune infiltrate in colorectal cancer and its clinical implications. In Cancer Treatment and Research (Vol. 180, pp. 197–211). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38862-1_7
  14. Geboes, K., Riddell, R., Öst, A., Jensfelt, B., Persson, T., & Löfberg, R. (2000). A reproducible grading scale for histological assessment of inflammation in ulcerative colitis. Gut, 47(3), 404–409. https://doi.org/10.1136/gut.47.3.404
  15. Greten, F. R., & Grivennikov, S. I. (2019). Inflammation and cancer: Triggers, mechanisms, and consequences. Immunity, 51(1), 27–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2019.06.025
  16. Grimm, J., Kiessling, F., Brindle, K. M., Hanahan, D., Jain, S. K., Lambin, P., Lammers, T., Li, K. C., de Vries, I. J. M., Weber, W. A., Weigelin, B., & Pichler, B. J. (2026). Imaging the hallmarks of cancer. Nat Rev Cancer, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41568-026-00950-y
  17. Guo, L., Wang, C., Qiu, X., Pu, X., & Chang, P. (2020). Colorectal cancer immune infiltrates: Significance in patient prognosis and immunotherapeutic efficacy. Frontiers in Immunology, 11, 1052. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.01052
  18. Hanahan, D. (2022). Hallmarks of cancer: New dimensions. Cancer Discovery, 12(1), 31–46. https://doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290.CD-21-1059
  19. He, S., Bhatt, R., Brown, C., Brown, E. A., Buhr, D. L., Chantranuvatana, K., Danenberg, E., Demir, K., et al. (2022). High-plex imaging of the tumor microenvironment by spatial molecular imaging. Nature Biotechnology, 40, 1794–1806. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-022-01415-4
  20. He, S., Hu, X., Gong, X., Cheng, Q., Zhu, S., Chen, Y., Luo, Y., Wang, Y., Zhu, G., Wan, T., Chen, C., Li, H., Pan, P., Xie, H., & Wang, Z. (2025). Exploring the role of intelectin-1 in modulating asthma through the gut-bone-lung axis. Gut Microbes, 17(1), 2576658. https://doi.org/10.1080/19490976.2025.2576658
  21. Hinshaw, D. C., & Shevde, L. A. (2019). The tumor microenvironment innately modulates cancer progression. Cancer Research, 79(18), 4557–4566. https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-18-3962
  22. Jackson, H. W., Fischer, J. R., Zanotelli, V. R. T., Ali, H. R., Mechera, R., Soysal, S. D., Moch, H., Muenst, S., & Bodenmiller, B. (2020). The single-cell pathology landscape of breast cancer reveals clinically relevant cellular communities. Nature, 578(7796), 615–620. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1876-x
  23. Kasprzak, A. (2022). The role of intelectin-1 (ITLN1) in cancer: A review. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 23(3), 1361. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23031361
  24. Katsuya, N., Sentani, K., Sekino, Y., Yamamoto, Y., Kobayashi, G., Babasaki, T., Oue, N., Amatya, V. J., Takeshima, Y., & Yasui, W. (2020). Clinicopathological significance of intelectin-1 in colorectal cancer: Intelectin-1 participates in tumor suppression and favorable progress. Pathology international, 70(12), 943–952. https://doi.org/10.1111/pin.13027
  25. Kawashima, K., Maeda, K., Saigo, C., Kito, Y., Yoshida, K., & Takeuchi, T. (2017). Adiponectin and Intelectin-1: Important Adipokine Players in Obesity-Related Colorectal Carcinogenesis. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 18(4), 866. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18040866
  26. Keum, N., & Giovannucci, E. (2019). Global burden of colorectal cancer: Emerging trends, risk factors and prevention strategies. Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 16(12), 713–732. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-019-0189-8
  27. Kim, S. Y., & Kim, T. W. (2020). Current challenges in the implementation of precision oncology for the management of metastatic colorectal cancer. ESMO Open, 5(1), e000634. https://doi.org/10.1136/esmoopen-2019-000634
  28. Kozak, J. J., Gray, H. B., & Garza-López, R. A. (2016). Structural stability of intelectin-1. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 120(46), 11888–11896. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b08691
  29. Longo, S. K., Guo, M. G., Ji, A. L., & Khavari, P. A. (2021). Integrating single-cell and spatial transcriptomics to elucidate intercellular tissue dynamics. Nature Reviews Genetics, 22(10), 627–644. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41576-021-00370-8
  30. Lugli, A., Kirsch, R., Ajioka, Y., Bosman, F., Cathomas, G., Dawson, H., El Zimaity, H., Fléjou, J. F., Hansen, T. P., Hartmann, A., Kakar, S., Langner, C., Nagtegaal, I., Puppa, G., Riddell, R., Ristimäki, A., Sheahan, K., Smyrk, T., Sugihara, K.,. Zlobec, I. (2017). Recommendations for reporting tumor budding in colorectal cancer based on the International Tumor Budding Consensus Conference (ITBCC 2016). Modern Pathology, 30(9), 1299–1311. https://doi.org/10.1038/modpathol.2017.46
  31. Nguyen, L. H., Goel, A., & Chung, D. C. (2020). Pathways of colorectal carcinogenesis. Gastroenterology, 158(2), 291–302. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2019.08.059
  32. Odze, R. D., & Goldblum, J. R. (2015). Surgical Pathology of the GI Tract, Liver, Biliary Tract and Pancreas (3rd ed.). Elsevier.
  33. Pagès, F., Mlecnik, B., Marliot, F., Bindea, G., Ou, F. S., Bifulco, C., Lugli, A., Zlobec, I., Rau, T. T., Berger, M. D., Nagtegaal, I. D., Vink-Börger, E., Hartmann, A., Geppert, C., Kolwelter, J., Merkel, S., Grützmann, R., Van den Eynde, M., Jouret-Mourin, A., … Galon, J. (2018). International validation of the consensus Immunoscore for the classification of colon cancer: A prognostic and accuracy study. The Lancet, 391(10135), 2128–2139. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)30789-X
  34. Peterson, L. W., & Artis, D. (2014). Intestinal epithelial cells: Regulators of barrier function and immune homeostasis. Nature Reviews Immunology, 14(3), 141–153. https://doi.org/10.1038/nri3608
  35. Qin, Z., Zhang, X., & Cheng, X. (2026). ITLN1 suppresses colorectal cancer progression by inhibiting Wnt/β-catenin-mediated EMT and reprogramming macrophage polarization. International immunopharmacology, 175, 116396. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intimp.2026.116396
  36. Ramos-Vara, J. A., & Miller, M. A. (2014). When tissue antigens and antibodies get along: Revisiting the technical aspects of immunohistochemistry—The red, brown, and blue technique. Veterinary Pathology, 51(1), 42–87. https://doi.org/10.1177/0300985813505879
  37. Remmele, W., & Stegner, H. E. (1987). Recommendation for uniform definition of an immunoreactive score (IRS) for immunohistochemical estrogen receptor detection in breast cancer tissue. Der Pathologe, 8(3), 138–140.
  38. Sanz-Pamplona, R., & Berenguer, A. (2022). The tumor microenvironment in colorectal cancer. Cancers, 14(24), 6206. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers14246206
  39. Sung, H., Ferlay, J., Siegel, R. L., Laversanne, M., Soerjomataram, I., Jemal, A., & Bray, F. (2021). Global cancer statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 71(3), 209–249. https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21660
  40. Suvarna, S. K., Layton, C., & Bancroft, J. D. (2019). Bancroft's Theory and Practice of Histological Techniques (8th ed.). Elsevier.
  41. Taniguchi, K., & Karin, M. (2018). NF-κB, inflammation, immunity and cancer: Coming of age. Nature Reviews Immunology, 18(5), 309–324. https://doi.org/10.1038/nri.2017.142
  42. Taylor, C. R., & Levenson, R. M. (2006). Quantification of immunohistochemistry—Issues concerning methods, utility and semiquantitative assessment II. Histopathology, 49(4), 411–424. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2559.2006.02513.x
  43. Terzić, J., Grivennikov, S., Karin, E., & Karin, M. (2010). Inflammation and colon cancer. Gastroenterology, 138(6), 2101–2114.e5. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2010.01.058
  44. Testa, U., Pelosi, E., & Castelli, G. (2018). Colorectal cancer: genetic abnormalities, tumor progression, tumor heterogeneity, clonal evolution and tumor-initiating cells. Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland), 6(2), 31. https://doi.org/10.3390/medsci6020031
  45. Vlachavas, E.-I., Voutetakis, K., Kosmidou, V., Tsikalakis, S., Roditis, S., Pateas, K., Kim, R., Pagel, K., Wolf, S., Warsow, G., Dimitrakopoulou-Strauss, A., Zografos, G. N., Pintzas, A., Betge, J., Papadodima, O., & Wiemann, S. (2025). Molecular and functional profiling unravels targetable vulnerabilities in colorectal cancer. Molecular Oncology, 19(6), 1751–1774. https://doi.org/10.1002/1878-0261.13814
  46. Watanabe, T., Chibana, K., Shiobara, T., Tei, R., Koike, R., Nakamura, Y., Arai, R., Horigane, Y., Shimizu, Y., Takemasa, A., Fukuda, T., Wenzel, S. E., & Ishii, Y. (2017). Expression of intelectin-1 in bronchial epithelial cells of asthma is correlated with T-helper 2 (Type-2) related parameters and its function. Allergy, asthma, and clinical immunology: official journal of the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 13, 35. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13223-017-0207-8
  47. WHO Classification of Tumours Editorial Board. (2019). Digestive System Tumours (5th ed., Vol. 1). International Agency for Research on Cancer.
  48. Yan, J., Chen, L., Liu, Z., Chen, Y., Sun, Y., Han, J., & Feng, L. (2018). The D5 region of the intelectin domain is a new type of carbohydrate recognition domain in the intelectin gene family. Developmental & Comparative Immunology, 85, 150–160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dci.2018.02.021
  49. Yu, H., Pardoll, D., & Jove, R. (2009). STATs in cancer inflammation and immunity: A leading role for STAT3. Nature Reviews Cancer, 9(11), 798–809. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc2734
  50. Yunker, L., Harwig, M. C., & Kriegel, A. J. (2024). A novel automated method for comprehensive renal cast quantification from rat kidney sections using QuPath. American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology, 328(2), F230-F238. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajprenal.00252.2024
  51. Lugli, A., Kirsch, R., Ajioka, Y., Bosman, F., Cathomas, G., Dawson, H., El Zimaity, H., Fléjou, J. F., Hansen, T. P., Hartmann, A., Kakar, S., Langner, C., Nagtegaal, I., Puppa, G., Riddell, R., Ristimäki, A., Sheahan, K., Smyrk, T., Sugihara, K.,. Zlobec, I. (2017). Recommendations for reporting tumor budding in colorectal cancer based on the International Tumor Budding Consensus Conference (ITBCC 2016). Modern Pathology, 30(9), 1299–1311. https://doi.org/10.1038/modpathol.2017.46
  52. Watanabe, T., Chibana, K., Shiobara, T., Tei, R., Koike, R., Nakamura, Y., Arai, R., Horigane, Y., Shimizu, Y., Takemasa, A., Fukuda, T., Wenzel, S. E., & Ishii, Y. (2017). Expression of intelectin-1 in bronchial epithelial cells of asthma is correlated with T-helper 2 (Type-2) related parameters and its function. Allergy, asthma, and clinical immunology: official journal of the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 13, 35. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13223-017-0207-8