title: Serum interleukin-23 levels in patients with ulcerative colitis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patients with ulcerative colitis are at increased risk of inflammation. Interleukin 23 (IL-23) is a newly identified cytokine with increased expression in inflamed biopsies of colon mucosa in patients with Crohn's disease; however, there is inconsistent evidence on its role in ulcerative colitis.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to compare serum IL-23 level in patients with ulcerative colitis and normal controls and determine if serum IL-23 level increases with the severity of disease according to endoscopic findings.
  
  
  METHODS
  We quantified serum IL-23 levels from 60 patients with ulcerative colitis and 20 control individuals. All patients underwent endoscopic procedure to define the severity of disease. Patients were then stratified into 2 groups of "Mild" and "Severe" according to the endoscopic findings.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For comparison of serum IL-23 levels, Platelet count, ESR and CRP between the groups, Mann-Whitney U test and independent sample t test were employed, as appropriate. Pearson's and spearman's correlation tests were employed to test the association of IL-23 with platelet count, CRP and ESR in patients. Our findings showed that serum IL-23 levels were increased in patients with ulcerative colitis compared to normal controls. Moreover, patients in "Severe" group had higher serum IL-23 levels and ESR compared with those in "Mild" group. There was no significant sexual dimorphism in any of studied variables.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We suggest that IL-23 plays an important role in the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis and is a marker of disease activity in these patients.
authors.affiliation: Physiology Research Centre, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. mozhganmohammadi69@yahoo.co.uk
authors.forename: Mojgan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mohammadi
authors.forename: Mohammad Mahdi
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Hayatbakhsh
authors.forename: Mohammad Javad
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Zahedi
authors.forename: Mahmood Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Jalalpour
authors.forename: Amin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pakgohar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053759:Interleukin-23 / Q000097:blood* / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D053759:Interleukin-23