Ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) are the nonspecific 
inflammatory bowel diseases with unknown etiology. Existing diagnostic methods 
are in many cases insufficient for proper diagnosis and choice of treatment 
method. In 10% cases of inflammatory bowel disease indeterminate colitis (IC) is 
described. It includes cases with diverse clinical manifestations, range and 
histopathological picture. New methods to distinguish inflammatory bowel 
diseases, chose proper treatment and monitor their activity are searched. 
Anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibodies (ASCA) and antineutrophil cytoplasmatic 
antibodies (pANCA) seem to be a new markers used in this end.
OBJECTIVE: Comparison of ASCA and pANCA appearance in CD and UC searching of 
correlation between serum levels of antibodies, activity and clinical picture of 
disease and appearance of ASCA and pANCA in IC.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: We examined 63 patients with UC aged 24 to 74 (30 men and 
33 women), 14 patients with CD aged 27 to 64 (10 men and 4 women) and 11 
patients with IC aged 21 to 53 (4 men and 7 women). Mean duration time of 
diseases respectively for UC, CD and IC was 7.9 (from 1.0 to 32), 9 (from 1 to 
20) and 3.04 (0.5 to 7) years. Diagnosis in specific clinical picture was 
established with endoscopic and histopathologic examination. Disease activity 
was described according to Rachmilewitz scale in UC and in CD according to 
Crohn's disease activity index (CDAI). Control group consisted of 24 healthy 
men. Examination of pANCA, IgA and IgG ACSA was performed with ELISA kits 
respectively by Congent Diagnostics and Genesis Diagnostic.
RESULTS: There were 39 of UC patients and of CD patients with active disease 
according to Rachmilewitz scale (above 3 points) and CDAI. We observed 
statistically more often pANCA in patients with UC (58%; n=31) than in patients 
with CD (28%; n=4) (p<0.05). Both IgA and IgG ACSCA occurred more often in 
patients with CD (57%; n=8) than in patients with UC (24%; n=15) (p<0.05). There 
were no significant differences between antibodies according to duration time, 
activity, location and treatment method of diseases. Obtained results besides 
the help with understanding of pathologic mechanisms, indicate for use of 
antibodies as an diagnostic tool in inflammatory bowel diseases.