ORAL IMMUNOGLOBULIN TREATMENT IN CROHNS-DISEASE

Two patients with severe Crohn's disease who failed to respond to trad itional medical treatment were given immunoglobulin orally. We used th e 6-h urinary recovery of a mixture of polyethyleneglycols PEG 400 and 1000 (molecular weight range 282-1250 Da) to test the intestinal perm eability. Both patients showed a similar permeability pattern with an increased leakage of large-sized PEGs before treatment and a lower uri nary recovery of probes after treatment with immunoglobulin. This migh t indicate that the inflammatory process in Crohn's disease can be aff ected from the luminal side of the mucosa.