Background: Angiogenic and lymphangiogenic factors (ALFs) may play an important role in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Our aims were to evaluate levels of ALFs in serum and the colonic mucosa culture supernatant (MCS) of patients with active and quiescent IBD and healthy subjects and to correlate them with the endoscopic, clinical and histological activity and with acute-phase reactants.

Methods: This is a prospective study of 28 controls and 72 IBD patients. Serum and MCS concentration of VEGFA, VEGFC, VEGFD, VEGFR1, VEGFR2, VEGFR3, PlGF, Ang1, Ang2 and Tie2 were measured by ELISA. Activity was established by specific indexes (CDAI, Mayo score, SES-CD, D'Haens scale and Riley index). Acute-phase reactants were routinely measured.

Results: MCS levels of all ALFs except VEGFR3 were higher in patients with endoscopic (p < 0.05), clinical (p < 0.05) and histological (p < 0.01) activity than in those without it. In serum, VEGFA, VEGFC and Ang1 and VEGFA and Ang1 levels were lower in patients in remission than in patients with clinical and histological activity, respectively (p < 0.05). There was a correlation between serum and MCS concentrations for VEGFD, VEGFR3, PlGF and Tie2 (r = 0.25, r = 0.48, r = -0.45 and r = 0.36; p < 0.05). Ang2 in MCS was the best predictor for the diagnosis of endoscopic, histological and clinical activity (area under ROC curve > 0.8).

Conclusions: MCS determination suggests a local increase in ALFs that correlates with IBD activity. Although the correlation between ALFs in serum and MCS was not good, the study of some of these factors as possible targets of new drugs for IBD constitutes a key new line of research.