Immunological aspects of ulcerative colitis

Abstract

Several immunological studies in ulcerative colitis were carried out in comparison with these in control subjects. The obtained results were as follows:
1) The average number of IgA-containing cells in the rectal mucosa significantly increased in patients with ulcerative colitis than in control subjects. Between these two groups, however, no significant difference could be found in the incidence of IgG-and IgM-containing cells of the rectum.
2) T-cell proportion of lymphocytes in peripheral blood was apparently going down in patients with ulcerative colitis than in control subjects.
3) There was no significant difference in the lymphocyte responce to PHA between both groups.
4) Patients with ulcerative colitis were in lower incidence in positive Mantoux reaction and PHA skin test than control subjects.
From these results, it was assumed that patients with ulcerative colitishad some abnormalities in their cellular immune systems, compared with control subjects.