Serum alpha 1-acid glycoprotein in chronic ulcerative colitis.

Abstract

Serum α1-acid glycoprotein was studied in 31 controls and 130 patients with chronic ulcerative colitis (no liver disease) judged clinically to be either quiescent (25 cases), mildly (38 cases), moderately (34 cases), and severely (33 cases) active. This serum glycoprotein is increased in ulcerative colitis when the disease process is active. For example, the highest observed value in the 31 controls was 111 mg per 100 ml, the lowest value in the 34 moderately active cases was 149, and the lowest value in the severely active cases was 290. After colectomy and proctectomy for chronic ulcerative colitis, serum values declined to normal range (25 cases). In the presence of hepatic disease (cholestasis and chronic hepatitis, both with and without cirrhosis), serum glycoprotein values tended to reflect the degree of activity of the ulcerative colitis (17 cases). The serum value for α1-acid glycoprotein is a more reliable index to the degree of activity of the inflammatory process in ulcerative colitis than is the sedimentation rate. It might serve as a guide to the efficacy of controllable therapeutic procedures for chronic ulcerative colitis, since it has been shown that surgical removal of actively diseased colon and rectum produces glycoprotein values within the normal range and that the receding of severely active chronic ulcerative colitis to the quiescent phase induces glycoprotein values within or slightly above the normal range.