title: Indices of granulocyte activity in inflammatory bowel disease.
abstract: In conditions with increased neutrophil production, the serum total vitamin B(12)-binding capacity (TBBC) is considered to correlate with the blood pool size of neutrophil granulocytes. The serum lysozyme, on the other hand, is a measure of neutrophil (and monocyte) turnover. The mean serum TBBC was significantly raised in patients with ulcerative colitis (range 1.23-5.51 ng/ml; mean 2.64 ng/ml) and patients with Crohn's disease (range 1.58-9.29 ng/ml; mean 2.93 ng/ml). The elevated values were shown to be due to rises in the granulocyte-secreted binding proteins, transcobalamins I and III. The TBBC was shown to rise with increasing activity of disease and to correlate roughly with the blood neutrophil granulocyte count. Patients with inflammatory bowel disease also had a significantly raised mean level of serum lysozyme (range 3.1 to 10.4 mug/ml; mean 6.8 mug/ml), but there was no correlation in individual patients between serum lysozyme and total B(12)-binding capacity. These results are taken to indicate an enlarged granulocyte pool and increased granulocyte turnover in inflammatory bowel disease.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D003037:Cobalt Radioisotopes; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000097:blood*; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000097:blood*; D006098:Granulocytes; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007962:Leukocytes; D008875:Middle Aged; D008970:Molecular Weight; D009113:Muramidase / Q000097:blood; D009504:Neutrophils; D011485:Protein Binding; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000032:analysis; D014805:Vitamin B 12 / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D001798:Blood Proteins; D003037:Cobalt Radioisotopes; D006454:Hemoglobins; D012709:Serum Albumin; D009113:Muramidase; D014805:Vitamin B 12