Increased phospholipase A2 activity of Ileal mucosa in Crohn's disease.

The activity of phospholipase A2 (EC 3.1.1.4) in endoscopic biopsy specimens of intestinal mucosa was compared in patients with Crohn's disease and controls without inflammatory bowel disease. In postresection Crohn patients there was significantly enhanced phospholipase A2 activity proximal to the anastomosis in the neoterminal ileum, whether or not the mucosa was inflamed at the time of biopsy. Highly elevated ileal phospholipase A2 activity had a predictive value for symptomatic relapse within 1 year after resection. Patients with concomitant Crohn's colitis, in whom the risk of ileal recurrence is particularly high, had greater ileal phospholipase A2 activity than noncolitis Crohn patients. Association thus was demonstrated between activity of phospholipase A2 in ileal mucosa and proneness to ileal inflammation in Crohn's disease.