Serum antibodies in first-degree relatives of patients with IBD: A marker of disease susceptibility? A follow-up pilot-study after 7 years

Introduction: Various disease-specific serum antibodies were
described in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and their yet
healthy first-degree relatives. In the latter, serum antibodies are
commonly regarded as potential markers of disease susceptibility.
The present long-term follow-up study evaluated the fate of
antibody-positive first-degree relatives. Patients and Methods: 25
patients with Crohn's disease, 19 patients with ulcerative colitis
and 102 first-degree relatives in whom presence of ASCA, pANCA,
pancreatic- and goblet-cell antibodies had been assessed were
enrolled. The number of incident cases with inflammatory bowel
disease was compared between antibody-positive and
antibody-negative first-degree relatives 7 years after storage of
serum samples. Results: 34 of 102 (33%) first-degree relatives were
positive for at least one of the studied serum antibodies. In the
group of first-degree relatives, one case of Crohn's disease and
one case of ulcerative colitis were diagnosed during the follow-up
period. However, both relatives did not display any of the
investigated serum antibodies (p = 1). Discussion: The findings of
our pilot study argue against a role of serum antibodies as a
marker of disease susceptibility in first-degree relatives of
patients with inflammatory bowel disease. However, these data have
to await confirmation in larger ideally prospective multicenter
studies before definite conclusions can be drawn.