IN-VITRO SUPEROXIDE PRODUCTION BY PERIPHERAL NEUTROPHILS FROM PATIENTS WITH INFLAMMATORY BOWEL-DISEASE

ACTIVATED, polymorphonuclear leucocytes, which are accumulated in Infl ammatory lesions of inflammatory bowel disease, produce tissue destruc tive, oxygen derived free radicals and other inflammatory mediators. T he PMN superoxide production elicited by formyl-methionyl-leucyl-pheny lalanine or the complement split product 5a were compared in IBD and h ealthy volunteers. Significantly reduced superoxide production was fou nd in PMNs from patients with Crohn's disease as compared to normal co ntrols, when fMLP or C5a were used as stimulants (p < 0.001 and p < 0. 01, respectively), whereas no differences were found when ulcerative c olitis patients were compared to normal controls (p > 0.05). The enhan ced oxygen derived free radical production previously reported in acti ve IBD, and especially in CD intestinal lesions, may either be due to an accumulation of productive phagocytes or to a change of the inflamm atory profile of these cells when migrating into intestinal lesions, p ossibly due to interaction with other mediators (e.g. adhesion molecul es and interleukins).