Novel aspect of Crohn's disease: increased content of platelet-activating factor in ileal and colonic mucosa.

Intestinal mucosal content of platelet-activating factor (PAF-acether) was investigated in Crohn's disease. The PAF-acether content was determined in mucosal biopsies from the ileum and colon in Crohn patients (n = 13), and in normal mucosa of control patients (n = 11). PAF-acether was found in both groups and was raised in Crohn patients, both in the ileum (6.3 +/- 4.7 vs. 0.6 +/- 0.4 pmol/g; p less than 0.01) and colon (6.2 +/- 4.2 vs. 0.7 +/- 0.4 pmol/g; p less than 0.01). Colonic PAF-acether content was raised irrespective of the presence of colonic inflammation as judged macroscopically. These findings add further support to the importance of bioactive lipids in inflammatory bowel disease and suggest a possible role for PAF-acether in Crohn's disease.