The relationship between MLC locus and ulcerative colitis was not yet clarified from the study of one family whose two members suffered from ulcerative colitis.
Our findings suggest that the increase in P-glycoprotein expression from normal to inflamed and dysplastic areas reflects the premalignant nature of ulcerative colitis and occurs early in the course of the disease.
IL-1 beta mRNA levels were highest in active UC and noninflammatory bowel disease inflammatory specimens while IL-6 mRNA levels were highest in active IBD specimens.
IL-6 transcripts were elevated only in active inflammatory bowel disease specimens, suggesting that IL-6-mediated immune processes are ongoing in the inflammatory mucosal environment of CD and UC.
In the active stage of UC, the mucosal level of mRNA coding for ornithine decarboxylase was lower than in the remission stage of UC or in the controls.
The activity of spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase, the rate-limiting enzyme of polyamine degradation, was higher in the active stage of UC than in the remission stage of UC or in the controls.
These results support the view that neutrophils are largely responsible for elevated fecal lysozyme levels in ulcerative colitis and macrophages for elevated serum lysozyme levels in Crohn's disease.
It was recently reported that, using a T-cell receptor alpha-chain complementary deoxyribonucleic acid probe (pGA5) and the restriction enzyme Eco RV, a 10-kilobase restriction fragment length polymorphism was detected significantly more frequently in patients with ulcerative colitis than in patients with Crohn's disease and controls.
Many polyps and dysplastic lesions in ulcerative colitis have phenotypic changes (blood group antigen, cytokeratins, CEA, TAG-72.3 antigen expression) and genetic changes (c-K-ras mutation, enhanced c-myc expression and pp60c-src activity) which are characteristic of invasive cancers.
Many polyps and dysplastic lesions in ulcerative colitis have phenotypic changes (blood group antigen, cytokeratins, CEA, TAG-72.3 antigen expression) and genetic changes (c-K-ras mutation, enhanced c-myc expression and pp60c-src activity) which are characteristic of invasive cancers.