Fecal Calprotectin as a Disease Activity and Prognostic Marker in Ulcerative Colitis

Authors

Mohamed Abdelrashed AbdelKhalik, Gastroenterology, Hepatology and infectious diseases department, Faculty of Medicin, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
Mohamed Ghareeb Mohamed, Gastroenterology, Hepatology and infectious diseases department, Faculty of Medicin, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
Amr Ahmed Rezk, Gastroenterology, Hepatology and infectious diseases department, Faculty of Medicin, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
Ahmed Elsherbiny Ibrahim Gomaa, Gastroenterology, Hepatology and infectious diseases department, Faculty of Medicin, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, EgyptFollow

Document Type

Original Article

Abstract

Background: Ulcerative Colitis (UC) is identified through endoscopy and biopsies. Endoscopy assesses a disease's severity. Calprotectin is a 24 kDa dimer of S100A8 and S100A9 calcium-binding proteins. Inflammatory bowel illnesses, celiac disease, and viral colitis elevate calprotectin levels in faeces.

Aim: To examine the fecal calprotectin (FC) level in UC as a predictor of disease activity and prognosis as well as its correlation with other blood inflammatory markers.

Subject and Methods: This cohort prospective study involved 150 cases who were be subjected to colonoscopy at Al-Azhar university hospitals endoscopic units.

Patients were equally classified after colonoscopic examination into three groups: Group I: Consist of 50 patients with free colonoscopic examination. Group II:50 patients confirmedly diagnosed as UC after histopathological examination and Group III: 50 patients with colonoscopic disease rather than UC. Further Subgrouping of Group II: Group II (A): 50 patients confirmedly diagnosed as UC after histo-pathological examination before treatment. Group II (B): 50 patients confirmedly diagnosed as UC after histopathological examination after 3 months of specific treatment.

Results: Group II had considerably more FC than group III, while FC was significantly lowest in group I than the other two groups. In group II, there is a significant positive correlation among FC with C reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) & total leukocyte count (TLC). Meanwhile, there is a significant positive correlation among FC with CRP and ESR in group III. FC yielded significance at cutoff level of 184 µg/g with AUC of 0.845 with 87.5% sensitivity & 76.8% specificity.

Conclusion: FC is considered a quick, reasonably priced, noninvasive diagnostic marker for UC disease activity and prognosis with high accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. FC levels is reliable indicator of UC severity due to their correlation with other markers (ESR, CRP, and TLC).

Keywords

Fecal Calprotectin, Ulcerative Colitis, Prognostic Marker

How to Cite This Article

AbdelKhalik, Mohamed Abdelrashed; Mohamed, Mohamed Ghareeb; Rezk, Amr Ahmed; and Gomaa, Ahmed Elsherbiny Ibrahim (2023) "Fecal Calprotectin as a Disease Activity and Prognostic Marker in Ulcerative Colitis," Al-Azhar International Medical Journal: Vol. 4: Iss. 7, Article 6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.58675/2682-339X.1910