title: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha serum level in assessment of disease activity in inflammatory bowel diseases.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate an influence of the concentration of proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in serum on the activity of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
  
  
  METHODS
  The IBD patients of both genders (n=60) were divided in two equal groups, ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). Based on the result of activity index each group was subdivided in two subgroups: active and inactive phase of the disease. Age and gender matched apparently healthy individuals (n=30) involved in the control group. Serum TNF-α concentration was determined by enzyme linked immune-adsorbent assay (ELISA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The significant difference (Mann-Whitney Test) in serum TNF-α level was found between healthy controls 28.86 pg/ml (28.74 - 29.19 pg/ml) and CD patients (29.47 pg/ml (29.1 - 29.77 pg/ml) (p less than 0.05) and UC patients 29.34 pg/ml (29.14 - 29.71 pg/ ml) (p less than 0.05) respectively. Serum TNF-α level in patients with CD was higher compared to serum TNF-α level in patients with UC, but the difference was not significant (p more than 0,05). There were no significant difference in serum TNF-α concentrations either in CD or UC patients related to the phase of disease activity: active CD 29.53 pg/ml (29.20 - 29.90 pg/ml) vs inactive CD 29.26 pg/ml (29.15 - 29.53 pg/ml); active UC 29.53 pg/ml (29.32 - 29.85 pg/ ml) vs inactive UC 29.26 pg/ml (29.10 - 29.63 pg/ml).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Since there were no differences in serum TNF-α concentrations related to the disease activity we consider that TNF-α is not an adequate serum biomarker for an assessment of the disease activity in patients with IBD.
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, University of Sarajevo, 2Clinical Microbiology, University Clinical Center Sarajevo, 3Clinical Immunology, University Clinical Center Sarajevo, 4 Faculty of Health Studies of Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
authors.forename: Nesina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Avdagić
authors.forename: Nermina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Babić
authors.forename: Mensura
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Šeremet
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Delić-Šarac
authors.forename: Zahida
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Drače
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Denjalić
authors.forename: Emina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nakaš-Ićindić
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative; D003424:Crohn Disease; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha