EXPRESSION OF UROKINASE-TYPE PLASMINOGEN-ACTIVATOR AND PLASMINOGEN-ACTIVATOR INHIBITOR IN COLON-DISEASE

Surveillance colonoscopy and biopsy are inaccurate methods of predicti ng the likelihood of ulcerative colitis patients to develop colon carc inoma. We examined uPA and PAI-1 as potential markers for assessing th ese patients and those with familial polyposis who are at risk of deve loping colon cancer. For comparison, biopsies of normal colon and Croh n's disease were evaluated. We examined 77 colonic mucosa specimens ta ken from patients undergoing elective resection for benign and maligna nt colonic disease. uPA and PAI-1 were measured using a monoclonal ant ibody-based ELISA kit (American Diagnostica, Greenwich, CT) and expres sed as ng/mg extract protein. Intra- and interassay controls of uPA ga ve CV = 3-4% and CV = 8-9%, respectively, while those for PAI-1 were 6 -7% and 10-11%, respectively. The Mann-Whitney test showed that both u PA and PAI-1 expression were significantly higher in colon cancer, chr onic ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's disease than in normal colon. uPA in familial polyposis samples was similar to that of normal colon, wh ile PAI-1 was much lower than in normal colon. Neither patient age nor sex appeared to influence the expression of these potential markers i n any tissue. The pattern of uPA and PAI-1 expression in normal, benig n and malignant colon suggests these proteins deserve further consider ation as markers for assessing colon carcinoma risk. (C) 1995 Wiley-Li ss, Inc.