Serum level of lactadherin (MFGE8) in inflamatory bowel disease.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluation of serum lactadherin level, its correlation with disease activity and certain biochemical parameters in IBD patients. METHODS: The study involved adult IBD patients, comprising 50 with ulcerative colitis (UC), 68 with Crohn's disease (CD), and 29 healthy controls. RESULTS: The MFGE8 median concentration was significantly higher in UC versus controls (1914.54 vs. 1392.21; p = 0.017), but not in CD. The median MFGE8 levels in UC and CD patient groups didn't significantly differ. There was a significant inverse correlation between MFGE8 and CRP (r = -0.283; p = 0.044) and fibrinogen (r = -0.362, p = 0.017) in UC. In active UC, MFGE8 median concentration was higher versus controls (1974.36 vs. 1392.21; p = 0.04) and negatively correlated with CRP (r = -0.482; p = 0.005), WBC (r = -0.391; p = 0.027), and fibrinogen (r = -0.473; p = 0.015). Inactive UC showed negative correlation only with fibrinogen (r = -0.567; p = 0.018). No correlations were found with disease activity measured using appropriate scales, age, BMI, or gender. CONCLUSIONS: Active UC patients show higher MFGE8 levels. These increase inversely with inflammatory markers (CRP, WBC, fibrinogen) in active UC, but not in CD.

Serum concentration of selected biochemical markers of endothelial dysfunction and inflammation in patients with the varying activity of inflammatory bowel disease.

INTRODUCTION: Endothelial dysfunction leads to an increased expression of cell adhesion molecules, leukocyte diapedesis, vascular smooth­muscle tone, excessive permeability of vascular walls, and increased procoagulant activity. OBJECTIVES: We investigated whether serum levels of several endothelial and platelet activation markers correlated with disease activity in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study included 56 patients with ulcerative colitis, 66 with Crohn disease, and 40 healthy controls. We measured the complete blood count and levels of fibrinogen, C­reactive protein, albumin, interleukin 6, tumor necrosis factor α, E­selectin, P­selectin, monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP­1), soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L), and microparticles. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the median levels of E­selectin, P­selectin, MCP­1, sCD40L, and microparticles between patients with active IBD, those with inactive IBD, and healthy controls. The clinical disease activity assessed with the Mayo scale in the ulcerative­colitis group was weakly, positively correlated with sCD40L (R = 0.32, P = 0.02), P­selectin (R = 0.32, P = 0.02), and inflammatory marker levels. The clinical disease activity index in the Crohn disease group was positively correlated with the markers of inflammation yet not with the markers of endothelial activity. CONCLUSIONS: E­selectin, P­selectin, sCD40L, MCP­1, and microparticle levels do not significantly differ between patients with the varying activity of IBD. However, due to the observed correlations, further studies of a larger patient group should be conducted to confirm our observations.

Evaluation of plasma concentrations of selected antioxidant parameters in patients with active Crohn's disease.

Oxidative stress (OxS) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of Crohn's disease (CD). The aim of this study was to examine whether nonenzymatic antioxidants are associated with active CD, by using the FRAP and GSH assay in plasma. Additionally, we measured bilirubin and albumin levels as two individual components of the plasma antioxidant system. A total of 55 patients with established CD, 30 with active CD and 25 with inactive disease, and 25 healthy individuals were prospectively enrolled in this study. We evaluated CD activity index, BMI and blood morphology, platelet count, serum CRP level, and bochemical parameters of OxS: ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP), reduced glutathione (GSH) in plasma and bilirubin and albumin levels in serum. Plasma FRAP and GSH concentrations were decreased in both CD groups compared to controls and negatively correlated with CDAI values (FRAP: r = -0.572, p = 0.003; GSH: r = -0.761, p = 0.001), CRP and platelet count. Bilirubin and albumin levels were lower in the serum of active CD patients than inactive CD patients and controls and negatively correlated with the CD activity index (r = -0328, p = 0.036, r = -0.518, p = 0.002) and CRP (r = -0.433, p = 0.002). e decreased FRAP and GSH levels in plasma and bilirubin and albumin levels in serum of patients with active CD compared to inactive CD and controls underlines the importance of OxS in the pathophysiology and activity of CD.