CHANGES IN AND SIGNIFICANCE OF SERUM LEVELS OF NGAL, NGALR, MMP-9 AND CHE IN PATIENTS WITH ULCERATIVE COLITIS

Yibin Sun, Chen Chen, Yujia Xiong, Chenhuan Tan, Yiting Liu, Rui Li^*

Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, PR China

Objective: To investigate the changes in and significance of serum levels of neutrophil gelatinase-related apolipoproteins (NGAL), neutrophil gelatinase-related apolipoprotein receptor (NGALR), matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and choline esterase (ChE) in patients with ulcerative colitis. 

Methods: From April 2017 to September 2018, 67 patients with ulcerative colitis treated in our hospital were randomly selected as subjects. Thirty-seven healthy people who underwent a physical examination in our hospital at the same time were selected as the control group. According to the Truelove classification, patients were divided into three groups: mild (24), moderate (35) and severe (8). Serum levels of NGAL, NGALR, MMP-9, ChE, serum total bilirubin (STB), and the inflammatory factors C-reactive protein (CRP) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were compared among groups. The Pearson correlation test was used to analyze correlations among serum levels of NGAL, NGALR, MMP-9 and ChE in patients with ulcerative colitis. An ROC curve was established to analyze the diagnostic value of NGAL, NGALR, MMP-9 and ChE in ulcerative colitis. 

Results: Serum levels of NGAL, NGALR, MMP-9, TNF-α and CRP in the study group were significantly increased, ChE and STB levels were significantly decreased, and there was a significant correlation among all indicators (P<0.05). As the severity of the disease increased, serum levels of NGAL, NGALR, MMP-9, TNF-α and CRP increased gradually, while ChE and STB decreased gradually. Serum NGAL, NGALR, MMP-9 and ChE have significant diagnostic value for ulcerative colitis, and the detection of all indicators combined is of greater diagnostic value. 

Conclusion: Serum levels of NGAL, NGALR and MMP-9 in patients with ulcerative colitis were significantly higher than those in healthy subjects, whereas ChE and STB levels were significantly lower than those in healthy subjects. The level of each indicator correlated with the severity of the disease and had significant diagnostic value for the occurrence of ulcerative colitis.