SUPPRESSED NATURAL-KILLER-CELL ACTIVITY IN ULCERATIVE-COLITIS

We describe a 31-year-old patient with ulcerative colitis who was succ essfully treated with prednisolone (PSL). Immunologic analyses were pe rformed during the treatment course. Suppressed natural killer (NK) ce ll activity and increased levels of the CD4/CD8 ratio were observed on admission. Transient restoration of NK cell activity was obtained by PSL treatment. However, it returned to the initial low level in spite of the improvement of clinical symptoms. Possible mechanisms are discu ssed for involvement of the immune system in the pathogenesis of ulcer ative colitis (UC).