A study of endotoxemia in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. I. Clinical study.

Endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) and LPS antibody in the blood were studied in 61 cases of ulcerative colitis (U.C.) by radioimmunoassay. Lysozyme (LZM) concentration was also studied by the turbidimetric method. As a result, it was found that the blood LPS value as well as serum LZM concentration reflects the clinical observations. The case of endotoxemia in the active phase group showed a positive correlation between the LPS value and LZM concentration. LPS antibody which could not be detected in many cases of the active phase, had a high titer in cases of remission with a long history of the disease. These results would suggest that in U.C. with damaged intestinal mucosal barrier, LPS originating from intestinal flora enters into the blood and aggravates the disease and further that this invading LPS releases LZM into the blood. The same studies were performed on 7 cases of Crohn's disease and the same result was obtained.