Studies of rectal mucosal catecholamines in ulcerative colitis.

Rectal mucosal biopsies from six patients suffering from ulcerative colitis were studied by estimating the catecholamine (CA) content and by fluorescence microscopy. Adrenergic nerve fibres were relatively scanty both in diseased and control patients. The adrenergic structures seem well preserved in the affected areas of the colon, although the nonspecific collagenous autofluorescence makes interpretation difficult. There was a significant rise in the noradrenaline (NA) content compared with the seven control patients (p smaller than 0.01). This may be a compensatory phenomenon to inhibit increased intestinal motility. The increased NA level may be due to the intense perivascular adrenergic plexus typical for ulcerative colitis. In both groups there were varying amounts of fluorescing enterochromaffin cells probably without relation to the diagnosis.