الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Inflammatory bowel disease comprises two main forms; crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), they share some common features with different behavior reflecting their distinctive pattern.
The exact etiology of IBD is still unknown, however, the most accepted theory suggests that it is an interplay of dysregulated immune response that is triggered by environmental factors against the altered gut microbiota as well as pathogenic microorganisms in a genetically susceptible individual.
Chronic systemic inflammation results in most of the manifestations of the disease. Also, the pathogenesis of extraintestinal manifestations is believed to be due to an aberrant immune response directed against shared epitopes in the gut mucosa and the extraintestinal locations of the disease.
Diagnosis of IBD requires comprehensive assessment and combination of clinical examination, serology, radiology, endoscopic and histopathological data. However, colonoscopy remains the gold standard tool in diagnosis and monitoring of IBD patients but, it is time-consuming, expensive and it requires bowel cleansing so non-invasive biomarkers are needed.
ESR, CRP, and FC are used to diagnose IBD with lack of specificity or sensitivity for disease extension. So, finding a non-invasive biomarker that can identify IBD and predict disease progression and severity is a promising goal.
Serum B-cell activating factor (BAFF) is one of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family, BAFF expression is induced by granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), IFN-γ, type I interferons (IFNs), IL-10, TGF-β and bacterial components like LPS. Excessive levels of BAFF results in high antibody production with induction of autoimmune inflammation. So, it could be used as a noninvasive, cheap marker to identify disease activity and severity.
The aim of the study was to detect the value of measuring Serum BAFF concentration in IBD patients by comparing them to healthy controls and its role in detecting the disease activity by correlating BAFF with inflammatory markers, clinical and endoscopic disease activity scores,
Ninety subjects participated in the study who were divided into three groups. Sixty IBD patients were further divided into two main groups: group Ia (30 cases) had Crohn’s disease, group Ib (30 cases) had ulcerative colitis and thirty healthy control individuals.
Regarding CD, CDAI was used to measure disease activity clinically and SES-CD was used to assess disease activity endoscopically. Regarding UC, mayo score was used to detect disease activity clinically and endoscopically.
Patients who use drugs which may affect the level of BAFF as gastrointestinal anti-biotics, non-steroidal drugs or severe liver and renal disease were excluded from our study.
All candidates in the study had a comprehensive history taking, clinical examination as well as laboratory tests which included CBC, ESR, CRP, albumin, liver enzymes, renal function tests, FC, and serum BAFF by ELISA. Ileocolonoscopy was done for all IBD patients and activity in