Fecal Human Neutrophil Peptide Levels Correlate with Intestinal Inflammation in Ulcerative Colitis

Fecal markers have recently been found to provide convenient and noninvasive assessment of intestinal inflammation in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In this study, we examined the clinical significance of fecal human neutrophil peptides (F-HNP) in the evaluation of IBD disease activity.

This study enrolled 70 patients with IBD, consisting of 45 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), 25 patients with Crohn's disease (CD), and 11 non-IBD controls. Stools samples were evaluated for the association between F-HNP concentration and disease and endoscopic activity in each group and the correlation between F-HNP and fecal calprotectin (F-CP) concentrations.

Median F-HNP levels were as follows: UC: 25.6 ng/ml; CD: 20.1 ng/ml; and non-IBD controls: 4.9 ng/ml. F-HNP levels were significantly higher in each IBD group, especially in the UC group, than in the control group. In the UC group, both F-HNP and F-CP levels were significantly higher during active disease compared to the remission phase. Both markers were significantly correlated with the Mayo endoscopic score, although the correlation was stronger for F-HNP than for F-CP (r = 0.66 vs. r = 0.54).

F-HNP is a noninvasive marker that is useful for evaluating UC endoscopic activity.