Type 1 procollagen as a biochemical marker of growth in children with inflammatory bowel disease.

Using radioimmunoassay, we measured the levels of the C-terminal propeptide of type I procollagen (pColl-I-C) in sera from 69 children with functional bowel disease (control population), 18 children with ulcerative colitis, and 35 children with Crohn disease. Sexually mature fully grown adolescents from all three patient groups had mean pColl-I-C concentrations (12.0±0.8 μg/dl) similar to those previously reported for adults (5 to 17 μg/dl). Children with functional bowel disease and normal growth had significantly higher concentrations (32.8±1.7 μg/dl) (P