Objective: To investigate serum levels of mannose-binding lectin (MBL), a complement-like protein of collectin family, in patients with Behcet's disease (BD).
Methods: MBL levels were measured in sera of 130 patients with BD, 64 patients with recurrent oral ulcerations (ROU), and 105 healthy controls (HC) with ELISA.
Results: Patients with BD had significantly lower median serum MBL levels compared to HC (1857 vs 3136 ng/ml, p = 0.001). No significant difference was observed in median serum MBL levels between BD and ROU (2309 ng/ml, p = 0.252). Low MBL levels (</= 500 ng/ml) were present in a higher proportion of BD patients compared to HC (29% vs 16%, p = 0.021). A severe disease course (total clinical severity score >/= 4) was more frequently observed in BD patients with very low serum MBL levels (</= 100 ng/ml) (19% vs 6%, p = 0.046). When serum MBL levels were analyzed separately according to gender, the frequency of vascular disease was higher in men with very low serum MBL levels (80% vs 42%, p = 0.042).
Conclusions: MBL deficiency might contribute to the pathogenesis of BD and affect its clinical course.