Ulcerative Colitis

What is Ulcerative Colitis?

Ulcerative colitisis a chronic inflammatory disease of the rectum and colon.
Although the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis is not fully elucidated,
cell-mediated immunity plays an important role in disease pathogenesis.

Leukocytapheresis is a newly emerging therapy to eliminate activated leukocyte
from systemic circulation. We have studied the effects of leukocytapheresis on
patients with ulcerative colitis who had failed to respond to conventional
therapy. A total of 51 patients with ulcerative colitis were treated with
apheresis using a non-woven polyester fiber filter (Finecell, Asahi Medical
Co., Tokyo, Japan) originally developed as a microcoagulation elimination
filter for massive transfusion. Of the 51 patients, 33 (64.7%) achieved
clinical remission manifested by clinical activity and colonoscopic findings
without any adverse effects.

This result suggested that leukocytapheresis using
Finecell might serve as an alternative therapy for ulcerative colitis as other
leukocytapheresis using centrifugation or column.