title: Antiglycan antibodies in Greek patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Antiglycan antibodies have recently been reported to be associated with Crohn's disease (CD). These antibodies include anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae mannan antibodies (ASCA), anti-laminariobioside carbohydrate antibodies (ALCA), anti-chitobioside carbohydrate antibodies (ACCA), and anti-mannobioside carbohydrate antibodies (AMCA).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to evaluate their diagnostic accuracy in Greek patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Serum was collected from 191 patients with IBD (85 with ulcerative colitis (UC) and 106 with CD), 29 cases with other causes of intestinal inflammation and 96 healthy controls. Antiglycan antibodies were measured using commercially available enzyme immunoassays.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Higher levels of antiglycan antibodies were detected in patients with CD compared to patients with UC and controls. Although all types of antiglycan antibodies had a high specificity for diagnosing CD, their sensitivity was rather low, with best results obtained with ASCA and ALCA (41.5 and 52.8%, respectively). Increased levels of ASCA and ALCA were associated with stricturing and penetrating disease phenotype, and the need for surgery (p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Antiglycan antibodies in Greek IBD patients are significantly associated with CD, and especially to phenotypes of complicated disease, with ASCA and ALCA exhibiting the highest sensitivity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, University Hospital Heraklion, PO Box 1352, 71110, Heraklion, Crete, Greece. ikoutroub@med.uoc.gr
authors.forename: Ioannis E
authors.initials: IE
authors.lastname: Koutroubakis
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Drygiannakis
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tsirogianni
authors.forename: Pantelis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Oustamanolakis
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Karmiris
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Papamichael
authors.forename: Gerassimos J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Mantzaris
authors.forename: Elias A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Kouroumalis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000906:Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000276:immunology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D000906:Antibodies; D015415:Biomarkers; D011134:Polysaccharides