Clinical immunology
Plasma neutrophil elastase in children with recurrent aphthous stomatitis

The pathogenesis of recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is poorly understood. The neutrophil elastase is implicated in tissue damage occurring in the course of several chronic inflammatory conditions. This strong proteolytic enzyme may be also a sensitive indicator of inflammation. EDTA-treated blood was obtained from 12 patients with the acute stage of minor RAS (aged from 1.5 to16 years, 7 girls and 5 boys) and 15 healthy children. The plasma concentration of neutrophil elastase in complex with alfα1-proteinase inhibitor (NE-α1PI) was measured by ELISA methods. All RAS patients had significantly (p<0.00001) higher levels of NE-α1IP (av. 377.96±306.52; median: 226.19 µg/L) compared to the control group (av. 55.90±20.31; median: 57.53 µg/L). Our data suggest that NE-α1IP may be a useful indicator of neutrophils activation in RAS patients and may be also involved in pathogenesis of this disease. These observations could have implications for development of new therapeutic strategies in the future.