Adenosine deaminase activity in patients with Crohnʼs disease: distinction between active and nonactive disease

BACKGROUNDCrohnʼs disease (CD) is a common chronic inflammatory bowel disease. During the disease a cascade of immunologic events occur including mucosal influx of inflammatory cells like neutrophils. Adenosine deaminase (ADA) is important in inflammatory responses and serves as a marker of activated leukocytes. MATERIALS AND METHODSIn this study, we investigated the activity of total ADA (tADA) and its isoenzymes, ADA1 and ADA2, in serum and neutrophils derived from 20 active patients with CD, 20 patients in remission, as well as in 15 healthy controls. RESULTSPatients with active disease had significantly (P