title: Concentrations of alpha- and beta-defensins in plasma of patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Impaired production/release of defensins, representative endogenous antimicrobial peptides, is associated with the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Employing in house radioimmunoassay, we examined concentrations of the major forms alpha-defensins, human neutrophil peptides (HNP) 1-3 and human beta-defensin (HBD)-2 in plasma of 55 IBD patients consisting of 29 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and 26 with Crohn's disease (CD) and 57 controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The circulating HNP 1-3, but not HBD-2, levels in IBD patients were significantly higher than those in controls. Plasma HNP 1-3 concentrations in CD patients significantly correlated with Crohn's disease activity index, peripheral white blood cell counts, serum CRP values and TNF-alpha levels.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Elevation of circulating alpha-defensins levels is suggestive of their physiopathological roles in IBD. Plasma HNP 1-3 concentrations may be an indicator for CD activity and their association with CRP and TNF-alpha supports a possible association with the inflammatory process.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Isomoto
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mukae
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ishimoto
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohnita
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shikuwa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mizuta
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakazato
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kohno
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D055815:Young Adult; D023084:alpha-Defensins / Q000097:blood*; D023083:beta-Defensins / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D023084:alpha-Defensins; D023083:beta-Defensins