Pancreatic and granulocytic endoproteases in faecal extracts from patients with active ulcerative colitis

Faecal samples from 16 patients with acute attacks of ulcerative colitis, 7 with quiescent disease, and 8 healthy subjects were studied with regard to extractable amounts of casein digestion capacity, immunoreactive anionic trypsin, cationic trypsin, chymotrypsin, pancreatic elastase, and granulocytic elastase. Patients with acute attacks of colitis had significantly higher levels of casein digestion, pancreatic elastase, and granulocytic elastase in faecal samples than patients with quiescent disease and controls. The non-specific proteolytic activity in faecal extracts from patients with acute colitis was mainly due to the pancreatic proteases anionic elastase, cationic elastase, and anionic trypsin to the granulocytic proteases elastase and neutral protease. These active proteases may cause further destruction of the already damaged mucosa found in patients with severe ulcerative colitis.