Serum antibodies in first-degree relatives of patients with IBD: a marker of disease susceptibility? A follow-up pilot-study after 7 years.
BACKGROUND
Various disease-specific serum antibodies were described in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and their yet healthy first-degree relatives. In the latter, serum antibodies are commonly regarded as potential markers of disease susceptibility. The present long-term follow-up study evaluated the fate of antibody-positive first-degree relatives.


METHODS
25 patients with Crohn's disease, 19 patients with ulcerative colitis and 102 first-degree relatives in whom presence of ASCA, pANCA, pancreatic- and goblet-cell antibodies had been assessed were enrolled. The number of incident cases with inflammatory bowel disease was compared between antibody-positive and antibody-negative first-degree relatives 7 years after storage of serum samples.


RESULTS
34 of 102 (33%) first-degree relatives were positive for at least one of the studied serum antibodies. In the group of first-degree relatives, one case of Crohn's disease and one case of ulcerative colitis were diagnosed during the follow-up period. However, both relatives did not display any of the investigated serum antibodies (p=1).


CONCLUSIONS
The findings of our pilot study argue against a role of serum antibodies as a marker of disease susceptibility in first-degree relatives of patients with inflammatory bowel disease. However, these data have to await confirmation in larger ideally prospective multicenter studies before definite conclusions can be drawn.
Török
H P
HP
Chirurgische Klinik und Poliklinik-Innenstadt, München, Germany.
Glas
J
J
Hollay
H C
HC
Gruber
R
R
Osthoff
M
M
Tonenchi
L
L
Brückl
C
C
Mussack
T
T
Folwaczny
M
M
Folwaczny
C
C
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000906:Antibodies / Q000276:immunology*; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects
D000906:Antibodies