title: Study on the correlations among disease activity index and salivary transforming growth factor-beta 1 and nitric oxide in ulcerative colitis patients.
abstract: Growth factors and nitric oxide (NO) play a major role in dysregulated immune response in ulcerative colitis (UC). Recent evidence has shown increased levels of transforming growth factor-beta(1) (TGF-beta(1)) in UC and suggested an anti-inflammatory effect for this factor. Based on our recent study, dysfunctional immunoregulation is present in saliva of UC patients, we hypothesized that salivary level of NO and TGF-beta(1) may differ by severity of UC and be useful to determine the activity of the disease. Thirty-seven UC patients and 15 healthy controls were enrolled and saliva samples were obtained. Truelove-Witts severity index and modified Truelove-Witts severity index were used to determine the severity of the disease. NO and TGF-beta(1) levels were detected in saliva of all patients and control subjects using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A total of 21 patients had mild disease while 8 had moderate and 8 had severe colitis. Adjusted for baseline characteristics, the levels of NO and TGF-beta(1) in different groups were compared. Salivary NO and TGF-beta(1) levels were higher in UC patients comparing to controls (P < 0.00005 and P = 0.005, respectively). The levels of NO and TGF-beta(1) showed no significant differences among the severity groups (P = 0.46 and P = 0.23, respectively). NO levels linearly increased by age (Coeff = 1.5, r = 0.38, P = 0.02). Gender, extension of disease, and medical treatment did not affect NO and TGF-beta(1) levels. Although UC patients have abnormal amounts of NO and TGF-beta(1) in their saliva, their disease activity cannot be predicted by these factors, which may indicate a pathophysiologic role rather than being nonspecific inflammatory markers for TGF-beta(1) and NO.
authors.affiliation: Department of Toxicology & Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, and Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 14155-6451, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rezaie
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khalaj
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shabihkhani
authors.forename: Shekoufeh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nikfar
authors.forename: Mohammad J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Zamani
authors.forename: Azadeh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mohammadirad
authors.forename: Naser E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Daryani
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abdollahi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism*; D012471:Salivary Proteins and Peptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D012471:Salivary Proteins and Peptides; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1; D009569:Nitric Oxide