AUTHOR=Chen Fang , Hu Yue , Fan Yi-Hong , Lv Bin 

TITLE=Clinical Value of Fecal Calprotectin in Predicting Mucosal Healing in Patients With Ulcerative Colitis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine

VOLUME=Volume 8 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2021.679264

DOI=10.3389/fmed.2021.679264

ISSN=2296-858X

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Aim:</bold> This study aimed to evaluate the clinical significance of fecal calprotectin (FC) in assessment of ulcerative colitis (UC) patients' endoscopic patterns and clinical manifestation.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> A total of 143 UC patients who received colonoscopy and 108 controls were included. After providing stool samples, patients underwent total colonoscopy. FC was measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Clinical activity was based on the Mayo score. Endoscopic findings was scored by the Ulcerative Colitis Endoscopic Index of Severity (UCEIS). Correlation analysis and receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) analysis were carried out to determine the significance of measurements.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> The median (interquartile range, IQR) of FC levels was 211 (43–990) μg/g in UC and 87.5 (40.50~181) μg/g in the control group. Fecal calprotectin correlated significantly with both Mayo and UCEIS scores (Spearman's r 0.670 and 0.592, <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.01). With a cut-off value of 164 μg/g for fecal calprotectin concentration, the area under the curve (AUC) in receiver operator characteristic analysis was 0.830, sensitivity was 85.42%, specificity was 73.68%, positive predictive value (PPV) was 62.12%, and negative predictive value (NPV) was 9.10% in predicting clinical active disease. Similarly, the power of FC to predict mucosal healing (MH) was modest. With a cut-off value of 154.5 μg/g, the AUC was 0.839, sensitivity was 72.34%, and specificity was 85.71%.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> For evaluating the disease activity of UC, FC is a clinically relevant biomarker for both clinically active disease and MH in patients with UC. But the cut-off value still needs large and multicenter studies for confirmation.</p>