Elevated levels of the cytokine LIGHT in Crohn’s disease

LIGHT, encoded by the TNFSF14 gene, is a cytokine belonging to the tumor necrosis factor superfamily. Upon binding to its receptors, HVEM and LTBR, it activates inflammatory responses. We used a single-molecule immunoassay to determine the circulating levels of free LIGHT in plasma from pediatric patients with Crohn9s disease (N = 183) and a panel of healthy pediatric reference samples (N = 9). LIGHT levels were greatly elevated in Crohn9s disease (average of 305 pg/ml versus 57 pg/ml in controls, P