CIRCULATING INTERCELLULAR-ADHESION MOLECULES IN BLOOD AND BRONCHOALVEOLAR LAVAGE IN BEHCETS-DISEASE

THE aim of this study was to evaluate circulating intercellular adhesi on molecule-1 (cICAM-1) in serum and in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), as a marker for the inflammatory process in patients with active Behce t's disease (ED). Circulating ICAM-1 was tested by an enzyme Linked im munosorbent assay in serum and in BAL of patients with ED. These value s were compared to those of patients with tuberculosis and to healthy controls. increased levels of circulating ICAM-1 were found in serum f rom patients with active ED compared to healthy controls (p < 0.01). S imilar levels of serum cICAM-1 were found in ED and tuberculosis. Addi tionally, both ED and tuberculosis patients exhibited high levels of c ICAM-1 in BAL, fluid, suggesting that this increase may be a result of the immune system activation in inflammatory sites. Circulating ICAM- 1 seemed to have a good discriminative power in identifying active ED, being elevated in all active stages (p < 0.01) compared to remission ED stage. No differences were found in active ED patients depending up on the clinical manifestations. These results suggest that cICAM-1 may be involved in leucocyte adhesion and migration into the vessel wall of the lung. Circulating forms are derived from molecules expressed on the surface of activated cells, as a result of an inflammatory proces s.