Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) refers to disorders associated with progressive inflammatory processes in the gastrointestinal system. IBD consists of two major forms, Crohn's disease (CD), and ulcerative colitis (UC). IBD became a global disease in the 21st century. Its pathogenesis is still not fully understood. Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is a pattern-recognising molecule, involved in anti-microbial and anti-cancer immunity. It is able to opsonize microorganisms and abnormal host cells, and to initiate complement activation. The aim of this study was to investigate possible involvement of MBL in inflammatory bowel disease in adults. Forty persons diagnosed with CD and 28 with ulcerative colitis were recruited. The control group consisted of 136 healthy persons. Single nucleotide polymorphisms of the MBL2 gene (localised to both promoter and exon 1) were determined as were serum MBL concentrations. The exon 1 variant alleles and MBL deficiency-associated genotypes were more frequent among patients compared with controls, although this difference was not statistically significant. No differences of MBL levels were found between the major groups. However in MBL2 A/A homozygous IBD patients, the median was significantly higher than in corresponding healthy subjects. That was particularly evident in the case of active Crohn's disease (1493 ng/ml vs. 800 ng/ml, p = 0.021). It may suggest that MBL and MBL-dependent complement activation contributes to excessive inflammation and its adverse effects in the course of CD. It cannot also be excluded that high MBL activity constitutes in some cases part of a multifactorial network conducing to development of CD.

中文翻译：

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成年炎症性肠病患者中的甘露糖结合凝集素（MBL）。

炎症性肠病（IBD）是指与胃肠系统中进行性炎症过程相关的疾病。IBD由两种主要形式组成，克罗恩病（CD）和溃疡性结肠炎（UC）。IBD在21世纪成为一种全球性疾病。其发病机理仍未完全了解。甘露糖结合凝集素（MBL）是一种模式识别分子，参与抗微生物和抗癌免疫力。它能够调理微生物和异常宿主细胞，并启动补体激活。这项研究的目的是调查MBL可能与成人炎症性肠病有关。招募了40名诊断为CD的人和28名溃疡性结肠炎的人。对照组由136名健康人组成。确定MBL2基因的单核苷酸多态性（既位于启动子又位于外显子1），与血清MBL浓度相同。与对照组相比，患者中外显子1变异等位基因和MBL缺乏相关基因型的发生率更高，尽管这种差异在统计学上并不显着。在主要组之间未发现MBL水平的差异。但是，在MBL2 A / A纯合IBD患者中，中位数显着高于相应的健康受试者。这在活动性克罗恩病的情况下尤其明显（1493 ng / ml对800 ng / ml，p = 0.021）。可能表明MBL和MBL依赖的补体激活导致CD过度炎症及其不良影响。