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Plasma interleukin-18 reflects severity of ulcerative colitis
Alicja Wiercinska-Drapalo1, Robert Flisiak, Jerzy Jaroszewicz
1Department of Infectious Diseases, Intestinal Diseases Unit, Medical University of Bialystok, Zurawia str. 14, 15-540 Bialystok, Poland. alicja@poczta.onet.pl
Aim:
The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between ulcerative colitis activity and plasma or mucosal concentrations of interleukin (IL)-18.
Methods:
Il-18 concentrations were measured in plasma and mucosal samples from 15 patients with active ulcerative colitis (UC).
Results:
The mean plasma concentration of IL-18 measured in all patients (422+/-88 pg/mL) doubled the mean value in healthy controls (206+/-32 pg/mL); however, the difference was not statistically significant. Plasma IL-18 levels revealed a significant positive correlation with scored endoscopic degree of mucosal injury, disease activity index, clinical activity index and C-reactive protein concentration. The mean concentration of plasma IL-18 was significantly higher in patients with severe ulcerative colitis (535+/-115 pg/mL) than in patients with mild ulcerative colitis (195+/-41 pg/mL), and in healthy controls. Although the mucosal mean IL-18 concentration in severe ulcerative colitis (2 523+/-618 pg/mg protein) doubled values observed in mild one (1 347+/-308 pg/mg protein), there was no statistically significant difference.
Conclusion:
Plasma IL-18 can be considered as a surrogate marker helpful in evaluation of ulcerative colitis activity.
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