Proteomic biomarkers in short bowel syndrome : are we ready to use them in clinical activity?

Introduction: Short bowel syndrome (SBS) is a clinical condition that can affect childhood and adult patients. Biomarker research is expected to be a new frontier in the clinical application, helpful for patients and health-care systems.Areas covered: SBS is usually a consequence of a massive intestinal resection that leads to an intestinal failure because of the reduction of absorptive surface, bacterial overgrowth, and faster intestinal transit. This new condition requires a multidisciplinary expertise to achieve again digestive autonomy. Parental nutrition (PN) supports nutritional status in SBS patients while the new guidelines on intestinal transplantation confirm its strict indication only for patients at actual risk of death on PN. A PubMed literature review from the 1980s up to date was performed, highlighting proteomic biomarkers and growth factor therapies that have shown so far promising results in SBS patients.Expert opinion: Apart from a few specific biomarkers and growth factors, the discovery of specific molecular events is currently under investigation of the proteomic analysis and could potentially represent fundamental, future changes in prevention, diagnosis, therapeutic management, and experimental practices in SBS.