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Fecal calprotectin as a marker of the severity of mucosal inflammation in children with inflammatory bowel disease

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Summary

Objectives

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in children has a remitting and relapsing course. The aim of our study was to evaluate the value of fecal calprotectin (FC), C-reactive protein (CRP), and clinical scores in predicting endoscopic and histological lesions in children with IBD.

Methods

A total of 68 children with IBD (29 with ulcerative colitis (UC), 39 with Crohn’s disease (CD), mean age 14.2 years) were included in the study.

We retrospectively reviewed clinical scores (PUCAI, PCDAI), CRP values, endoscopic, and histological data as well as FC values in all included children.

Results

In children with UC, the correlation between the histological lesions and FC (r = 0.609, p < 0.01), CRP (r = 0.390, n.s.), or PUCAI (r = 0.535, p < 0.05) was higher than for children with CD (FC r =  0.490, n.s.; CRP r =  0.269, n.s.; PCDAI r = 0.257, n.s.). The correlation between endoscopy scores and the same parameters yielded similar findings (UC: FC r = 0.628, p < 0.01; CRP r = 0.387, n.s.; PUCAI r = 0.256, n.s.; CD: FC r = 0.516, p < 0.05; CRP r = 0.238, n.s.; PCDAI r = 0.267, n.s.).

The correlation between FC and PUCAI (r = 0.532, p < 0.01) was higher than that between CRP and PUCAI (r = 0.424, p < 0.01). However, the correlation between FC and PCDAI (0.384, p < 0.01) is lower than that between CRP and PCDAI (r = 0.447, p < 0.01).

Conclusion

FC is a better predictor of the severity of endoscopic and histological lesions than CRP or disease activity scores, especially for UC. FC, as a noninvasive marker, could possibly be used to reduce the number of endoscopic procedures in children with a confirmed diagnosis of IBD.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank all the children and their parents whose data was included in the study. We are also grateful to the medical personnel of the Gastroenterology Unit, Department of Pediatrics, University Medical Center Maribor, Slovenia.

Conflict of interest

Jernej Dolinsek, MD, PhD, Larisa Sabath, Petra Riznik, MD and Dusanka Micetic-Turk, MD, PhD, declare that there are no actual or potential conflicts of interest in relation to this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Paediatrics, Gastroenterology Unit, University Medical Centre Maribor, Ljubljanska 5, 2000, Maribor, Slovenia

    Jernej Dolinšek

  2. Department of Paediatrics, Medical Faculty, University of Maribor, Taborska ulica 8, 2000, Maribor, Slovenia

    Petra Rižnik, Larisa Sabath & Dušanka Mičetić-Turk

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  1. Jernej Dolinšek
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  2. Petra Rižnik
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Correspondence to Jernej Dolinšek.

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Dolinšek, J., Rižnik, P., Sabath, L. et al. Fecal calprotectin as a marker of the severity of mucosal inflammation in children with inflammatory bowel disease. Wien Klin Wochenschr 128, 253–259 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00508-015-0915-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00508-015-0915-3

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