The correlation study of the plasma homocysteine and melatonin in ulcerative colitis

Abstract

Objective To explore the clinical correlation of the variation of plasma homocysteine (HCY), melatonin (MLT) and ulceative colitis (UC). Methods The clinical data of 112 UC patients was collected, and 110 normal healthy persons as control. The level of plasma HCY and MLT was detected by high pressure liquid chromatography-fluorescence detection (HPLC-FD) method. The level of plasma folate ( FA) and vitamin B12 was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. The correlation of these four indexes and UC was analyzed. Results The serum level of HCY in UC patients was significantly higher than that in normal healthy persons [(11. 27± 7.26) μmol/L vs (8. 19±4. 81) μmol/L, P = 0. 000]. The serum level of MLT in UC patients was significantly lower than that in normal healthy persons [(49. 06 + 31. 40) pg/ml vs (64. 28±41. 16) pg/ml,P=0. 008]. The serum level of FA in UC patients was significantly lower than that in normal healthy persons [(7. 64 + 1.95) nmol/L vs (9. 14 + 1.23) nmol/L, P = 0. 005]. The serum level of vitamin B12 in UC patients was significantly lower than that in normal healthy persons [(108. 64 ±32. 22) pmol/L vs (112. 64±33. 33) pmol/L, P = 0. 004]. There was no correlation between plasma HCY, MLT and UC disease activity degree, range, disease duration, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), or C reactive protein (CRP) in UC patients. There was no significant correlation between MLT and HCY in UC patients. Conclusions The serum level of HCY is higher in UC patients than that in normal control, and MLT is lower than that in normal control. However there is no significant correlation between them. Key words: Colitis, ulcerative; Melatonin; Cysteine; Folic acid; Vitamin B12