Prevalence of the factor V Leiden mutation in human inflammatory bowel disease with different activity

Background: the developmental mechanism of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in patients is unknown, but it may be influenced by different environmenta l and genetical factors. Aims of this study were: (1) to classify the IBD p atients according the disease activity; and (2) to determine the presence o f factor V Leiden mutation in IBD patients. Patients and methods: the obser vation was carried out in 49 patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and 29 pati ents with ulcerative colitis (UC). None of them had a history of thrombotic episodes. IBD was diagnosed by conventional clinical, endoscopic, radiolog ical and histological criteria. The factor V Leiden mutation was detected b y the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. Crohn's disease activity inde x (CDAI) was evaluated using the method of the National Cooperative Crohn's Disease Study. We determined the UC disease activity according to Truelove -Witts classification. Results: The prevalence of factor V Leiden mutation was increased in both populations of the patients to compare it with health y persons (14.28 and 27.58% vs. 5.26%, n = 7/49 and 8/29 vs. 3/57). The sta tistical analysis did not show a significant relationship between the CDAI or the Truelove-Witts grade in UC and the presence of Leiden mutation. Conc lusion: the presence of factor V Leiden mutation probably has a role in the development of IBD. Our results suggest a higher prevalence of this mutati on in Central European patients than in Southern, Northern Europe or Americ a, may be due to the genetical differences of these populations. (C) 2001 E lsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.