Predictive value of serum markers for mucosal healing in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

To investigate the value of serum markers in assessing mucosal healing (MH) and inflammatory activity in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

In this retrospective analysis, we examined data from 320 IBD patients, including 176 with ulcerative colitis (UC) and 144 with Crohn's disease (CD), alongside 100 healthy controls during the same period. Serum levels of various markers, including white blood cell (WBC), platelet count (PLT), C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) were evaluated. These indices were analyzed for their diagnostic value in endoscopic MH in IBD patients. The independent influencing factors affecting MH in IBD patients were identified by univariate and multivariate analyses.

The levels of WBC, PLT, ESR, CRP, PLR, and NLR were significantly higher in IBD patients, UC patients, and CD patients than in healthy controls (all P < 0.05). For those achieving MH, their WBC, PLT, ESR, CRP, PLR, and NLR levels were significantly lower than patients who did not achieve MH (all P < 0.05). The AUCs of WBC, PLT, ESR, CRP, PLR, and NLR for the diagnosis of MH were 0.729, 0.756, 0.673, 0.707, 0791, and 0.724, respectively. A multifactorial analysis found that the presence of abdominal pain (OR: 2.155, 95% CI: 1.081-4.297, P < 0.05), higher WBC (OR: 3.927, 95% CI: 2.008-7.681, P < 0.001), higher PLT (OR: 4.181, 95% CI: 2.078-8.412, P < 0.001), higher ESR (OR: 2.221, 95% CI: 1.082-4.562, P < 0.05), higher CRP (OR: 3.874, 95% CI: 1.861-8.065, P < 0.001), higher PLR (OR: 4.087, 95% CI: 1.586-10.534, P < 0.01), and higher NLR ( OR: 2.688, 95% CI: 1.292-5.592, P < 0.01) were independent risk factors for failure in achieving MH.

WBC, PLT, ESR, CRP, PLR, and NLR can be used as noninvasive markers for predicting MH in patients with IBD, and they hold promise for clinical application.