Neutrophil chemokines GCP-2 and GRO-alpha in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

OBJECTIVE: To measure the serum levels of neutrophils chemokine granulocyte chemotactic protein‐2 (GCP‐2) and interleukin‐8 (IL‐8) in Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) patients and compare them with serum levels of growth‐related oncogene (GRO‐α). METHODS: Forty‐two patients with inflammatory bowel disease (24 CD and 18 UC) and 38 matched healthy subjects were recruited. Their serum GCP‐2, IL‐8 and GRO‐α were measured by a specific enzyme immunoassay kit. RESULTS: The serum levels of GCP‐2 were significantly higher in the CD than the UC patients but lower than in the healthy subjects. The GCP‐2 in the UC patients were significantly lower than in the healthy subjects. The GRO‐α levels were significantly higher in the IBD patients than in the healthy subjects. The IL‐8 levels were under the detectable limit in both the IBD and the healthy subjects. CONCLUSION: In this group of patients, GCP‐2 did not participate in the inflammatory response in IBD. GRO‐α could be an important factor that enhances the inflammatory state in IBD.