Immunoreactive pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor in sera from patients with acute ulcerative colitis.

The serum levels of immunoreactive pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor (irPSTI) and immunoreactive cationic trypsin (irCT) were measured in 14 patients admitted for severe acute attacks of ulcerative colitis. Patients with acute colitis had significantly higher irPSTI levels in serum (35 micrograms/l) as compared with controls (11.5 micrograms/l), while the serum level of irCT was within normal limits. The normal colonic mucosa recently has been shown to contain irPSTI favoring the theory of an extrapancreatic origin of the increased serum levels of irPSTI in patients with severe active ulcerative colitis.