[Fecal calprotectin as a biomarker effectiveness of various interventions in patients with inflammatory bowel...

Among the chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract of the special place occupied by inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), in which the lining of the intestine produces a significant number of neutrophils, which has prompted researchers and clinicians use a protein derived from neutrophils as a biomarker for the assessment of the intestinal wall and the effectiveness of treatment in patients IBD. One of these proteins is calprotectin (CP), which can be considered as a biomarker of activation, destruction and loss of neutrophil cells, to a lesser extent-- the activated monocytes and macrophages. Various studies have shown that the concentration of fecal calprotectin (FCP) correlates well with endoscopic and histological parameters of intestinal inflammation. Test the FCP can be used in healthy first-degree relatives of patients with IBD to assess the possible presence of subclinical variant of intestinal inflammation in this population. Thus, a simple test of the FCP can reduce the needs of various expensive and invasive method, including costs associated with them, especially in younger patients, where in terms of differential diagnosis of IBD is often not included neoplasia of the intestine. FCP is a non-invasive, inexpensive and at the same time, highly sensitive and specific biomarker that can be used successfully in the diagnosis, evaluation of the efficacy of treatment and predicting recurrence.