ULCERATIVE-COLITIS AND ANTINEUTROPHIL CYTOPLASMIC ANTIBODIES IN HONG-KONG CHINESE

Inflammatory bowel diseases are known to be rare among the Chinese. Th e diagnosis of ulcerative colitis has been difficult in some of the As ian countries where infective colitis is more prevalent. Twenty-three Hong Kong Chinese patients diagnosed to have ulcerative colitis were r eviewed. The symptoms were relatively mild and extraintestinal manifes tation had been rare. Patients responded well to steroid therapy and s ulfasalazine. Three patients in this series were found to have cyst an d/or trophozoites of Entamoeba histolytica in stool. In this series, 1 9 patients were tested for antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA). Fourteen patients (73.5%) were positive, of which six (31.5%) showed a perinuclear staining pattern and eight (42%) demonstrated a cytoplas mic pattern. Five patients (26.5%) were negative for any ANCA, and non e was positive for both. Sera of these patients were also tested for a nti-a granules, anti-myeloperoxidase, and anti-lactoferrin activities. None was positive. Control sera collected from 16 patients with irrit able bowel syndrome were all negative for the tests. In conclusion, te sting of ANCAs may help in making the diagnosis of idiopathic inflamma tory bowel disease in difficult situations.