The relationship between morphological manifestations, clinical and hematological indicators and lymphocyte indices in ulcerative colitis

Abstract

Background. The purpose of the study was to identify correlational parallels between morphological manifestations, clinical and hematological indicators and lymphocyte indices in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). Materials and methods. Ninety patients with UC were examined. Morphologically, the degree of damage to the intestinal mucosa, the presence of crypt abscesses, atrophic changes, and changes in crypt architectonics were determined. The number of cells of the inflammatory infiltrate, linear measurements of the mucosa were assessed by morphometric method. Clinical blood parameters were evaluated in the inpatients of the department of intestinal diseases at the Institute of Gastroenterology of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine. The severity of the disease was assessed according to the Mayo score. Statistical processing of the results was carried out using the Statistica 6.1 program. Results. In patients with UC, histological changes in the intestinal mucosa were found. The activity of the disease was evaluated by the presence of an increased number of inflammatory cells in the infiltrate of the mucosa: neutrophils (212.20 ± 20.93), lymphocytes (2922.80 ± 76.63), eosinophils (332.50 ± 17.24), macrophages (369.70 ± 16.21). Multiple crypt abscesses, deformation of the musocal epithelium in the form of erosions and ulcers were also noted. Clinical indicators of peripheral blood also confirmed the exacerbation of the disease (anemic state, increased inflammatory markers). An increased depth of the crypts correlated with such a morphometric indicator as mucosal thickness (r = 0.46; p < 0.01). At the same time, correlations were found between mucosal thickness and the height of the surface epithelium (r = 0.35; p < 0.01). There was a relationship between the morphological and clinical and hematological indicators of UC: mucosal thickness and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (r = 0.38; р < 0.01), band cells (r = 0.37; р < 0.01) and blood neutrophils (r = 0.21; p < 0.05). The Mayo core, as an indicator of the severity of the disease, correlated with the height of the epithelium (r = 0.37; p < 0.05); neutrophils (r = 0.49; p < 0.01) and basophils (r = 0.28; p < 0.05) of the intestinal mucosa; N/L tissue index (r = 0.50; p < 0.01). Conclusions. Correlative parallels were found, which confirm our assumption regarding the connection between morphological manifestations and clinical and hematological indicators of UC. The use of T/L and N/L indices in both tissue and peripheral blood can be used as a marker of the activity of inflammatory processes in UC.