Can ischemia modified albumin level be regarded as an indicative marker of ulcerative colitis and its activity?

INTRODUCTION: We studied the effectivity of serum ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) levels in the diagnosis and clinical activity of patients suffering from Ulcerative Colitis (UC).
METHODS: Eighty-eight clinically and pathologically confirmed UC patients and 48 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers were included in the study. The patients were classified according to the Rachmilewitz Score [Endoscopy activity index (EAI)], and those with a score below five were considered in the remission group, and those above five were considered as active disease group. The IMA levels were calculated by the colorimetric method.
RESULTS: When UC patients were compared to the control group, higher IMA levels were observed in the patient’s serum (0.48±0.25 g/L vs. 0.28±0.08 g/L), and the difference was statistically significant (p<0.001). Among UC patients, higher IMA levels were found in the active group (n: 36) compared to the remission group (n: 52) (0.72±0.20 g/L vs. 0.32±0.12 g/L, and p<0.001). Positive and statistically significant correlations between serum IMA levels and EAI scores (r: 0.81, p<0.001) were detected.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Serum IMA level may be a suitable biomarker for the diagnosis and the clinical and endoscopic activity of UC disease. It may have diagnostic and prognostic features in UC disease.