Serum soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) levels in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Abstract

Several cytokines and cell adhesion molecules have been associated with inflammatory bowel disease and may contribute to the characteristic inflammatory state. We measured levels of soluble ICAM-1 in sera of 38 patients with ulcerative colitis (18 men, 20 women: age range; 18-56, 18 active and 20 inactive patients), 11 patients with Crohn's disease (5 men and 6 women: age range; 18-45 years, 6 active and 5 inactive patients), and 16 healthy controls (8 men and 8 women; age range: 24-43 years). All inactive patients with Crohn's disease and 17 of 20 inactive patients with ulcerative colitis were on prednisone and sulphasalazine and 3 of 20 patients were on azathioprine and pred-nisone. All active patients took no medication or sulphasalazine only. The mean serum slCAM-1 levels, in active patients with Crohn's disease was 267.7 ± 54.5 ng/ml, in inactive patients with Crohn's disease 127.9 ± 7.8 ng/ml, in active patients with ulcerative colitis 244.7 ± 64.2 ng/ml, in inac¬tive patients with ulcerative colitis 143.2 ±21.1 ng/ml and in healthy subjects was 194.1 ± 70.3 ng/ml. We found a significantly increased concentration of-slCAM-1 in the serum samples of patients with active Crohn's disease and 18 patients with active ulcerative colitis compared to 16 normal healthy subjects (P