Report: Serum and erythrocyte adenosine deaminase activities in patients with Behcet's disease

Objectives: Adenosine deaminase (ADA) is a non-specific marker of the activation of the T cell, which has an important role in the etiology of Behcet's disease (BD). The purpose of this study was to investigate the determination of ADA activity as an index of T-lymphocyte function in BD, which is known to have an T-cell-mediated immune response. Materials and Methods: Adenosine deaminase activities in both serum and erythrocytes were measured in 23 untreated patients with BD and in 20 healthy controls. The patients with BD were divided into two groups: active (n = 10) and inactive (n = 13). Results: When compared with the control group, serum ADA activity was high (P < 0.01) and erythrocyte ADA activity was significantly low (P < 0.01) in BD. Serum ADA activity of active BD was higher than that of inactive BD (P < 0.01), but erythrocyte ADA activity was found to be lower in active BD than inactive BD (P < 0.01). Comment: These findings may provide an additional benefit for the diagnosis of BD and sub-typing of active and inactive BD.