Cell surface adhesion molecules (CAM) are important promotors of the immunoinflammatory cascade. The circulating levels of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) have previously been shown to correlate with disease activity in inflammatory bowel disease. The primary aim of this study was consequently to investigate if this also applies to mucosal levels of soluble ICAM-1. We measured soluble ICAM-1 levels in intestinal biopsy specimens and the endoscopic activity of 69 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and 14 controls and found that the median concentration of soluble ICAM-1 was significantly higher in patients with moderately or very active UC (15.0 ng/ml) as compared to slightly active (9.8 ng/ml) and inactive UC (9.5 ng/ml) as well as controls (6.5 ng/ml) (P < 0.005). To further elucidate the interactions, two other CAM [E-selectin and vascular cellular adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1)], together with interleukin-8 (IL-8), IL-2 receptor (IL-2R) alpha and beta chains, were also measured. A significant trend towards higher soluble E-selectin levels in biopsies with active UC (1.8 pg/ml) as compared to inactive UC (1.3 pg/ml) and to controls (< 1.0 pg/ml) (P < 0.01) was also found. In contrast, soluble VCAM-1 was barely detectable in biopsies from two UC patients. A significant correlation was found between soluble ICAM-1 and IL-8 concentrations (r = 0.46; P < 0.0001), and between sICAM-1 and sIL-2R alpha concentrations (r = 0.69; P < 0.0001), while sIL-2R beta was not detected. This study shows that intestinal ICAM-1 and E-selectin correlate with endoscopic activity of UC and with IL-8 and IL-2R alpha levels. These mediators may be useful in monitoring mucosal inflammation in studies exploring the therapeutical potential of targeting CAM. The lack of detectable VCAM-1, which is induced only in venous endothelium is interesting. It may suggest that intestinal inflammation mainly affects arterial endothelial cells and support the theory that intestinal vasculitis is involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease.