This study comprised selection
of 30 patients with recurrent episodes
of bloody diarrhoea (4-8 stools/day)
more than diagnosed previously as
UC. Activity Index for UC with a total
score of more than 4 indicate disease
activity. All patients underwent
colonoscopy and routine laboratory
investigations. All patients and 30
controls gave fasting venous blood
sample for ELISA estimation of
TIMP-1.and TIMP-4 serum levels and
their ratio was calculated. Results
showed that half of patients (15) had
active UC with a mean activity score
of 8.9±1.5. Pain was the most
frequent complaint, followed by
frequency of stool/day and the sense
of wellbeing. Mean serum levels of
TIMP-1 and TIMP-1/TIMP-4 were
significantly higher in patients than
controls, in males versus females
and in patients with active disease
than in those with quiescent disease.
It was concluded that active UC
showed imbalance between serum
sensitivity of serum TIMP-1 and
specificity of TIMP-4 and could be
used for disease severity evaluation. |
