Background: S-adenosylmethionine is a methyl donor in many cellular reactions including detoxification of constantly produced hydrogen sulphide in the colon. A reduced capacity to detoxify hydrogen sulphide may be implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease. S-adenosylmethionine could be low if this assumption is correct. We compared S-adenosylmethionine concentrations in whole blood in patients with severe and moderate inflammatory bowel disease with healthy reference persons.
Methods: S-adenosylmethionine concentrations in whole blood were measured using high-pressure liquid chromatography. Patients with Crohn's disease (n=21), ulcerative colitis (n=7) and healthy age-matched reference persons (or controls) (n=17) were studied.
Results: S-adenosylmethionine concentrations were significantly decreased in patients with severe inflammatory bowel disease (mean 1.10 mg/l) as compared to patients with moderate Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (mean 1.83 mg/l) and reference persons (mean 1.84 mg/l). Statistically significant inverse correlations were found between S-adenosylmethionine concentration and activity index (p<0.01 and R2=0.86) as well as Crohn's disease activity index (p<0.01 and R2=0.50) scores.
Conclusions: Low concentrations of S-adenosylmethionine were found in patients with severe inflammatory bowel disease. Future studies will show whether S-adenosylmethionine is a marker for disease activity and a possible tool for investigation of sulphur toxicity as a causative mechanism in inflammatory bowel disease.