Lectin histochemistry in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease

The glycoconjugate composition of intestinal goblet cell mucin was characterized according to the anatomical distribution of lectin-binding sites in surgically resected intestinal tissues and mucosal biopsy specimens obtained from 38 control subjects, and from 32 patients with the active phase of ulcerative colitis, and 12 with Crohn's disease. Immunoperoxidase labeling studies found that in control tissues binding by Soybean Agglutinin (SBA), Dolichos Biflorus Agglutinin (DBA), Wheatgerm Agglutinin (WGA), and Ricinus Communis Agglutinin-120 (RCA-120) was consistently higher than that of Peanut Agglutinin (PNA), Ulex Europaeus Agglutinin-1 (UEA-1), Concanavalin A (ConA) and Helix Pomatia Agglutinin (HPA). Tissues from ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease patients, showed increases in DBA and SBA binding, a reduction in HPA binding, and changes in the distribution of PNA, UEA-1, RCA-120, and HPA labeling sites. These results demonstrated that the expression of lectin-binding sites on human intestinal goblet mucin was specifically altered in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, thus possibly providing another approach to the assessment of neoplastic risk on these diseases.