Sources of variability in estimating ornithine decarboxylase activity and polyamine contents in human colorectal mucosa.

The activity of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), the first enzyme in polyamine synthesis, is elevated during epithelial carcinogenesis. Since this enzyme is a target for colon and other cancer chemoprevention strategies, we sought to identify sources of variability affecting the measurement of tissue ODC activities and polyamine contents. Multiple colorectal biopsies were obtained from 39 patients u…