Diagnostic and prognostic role of ascitic fluid calprotectin level: six-month outcome findings in cirrhotic patients

Abstract

Aim

To assess the role of ascites calprotectin in early detection of SBP in patients with cirrhosis and to investigate its prognostic value in determination of the 6-month outcome.

Methods and material: In this cross-sectional study, patients with liver cirrhosis who were consecutively referred to Imam Reza hospital, tertiary referral center in the northwest of Iran, underwent abdominal paracentesis. The samples were collected for measurement of calprotectin, albumin, total protein, WBCs, and PMNs.

Results

The mean age of a total of 87 included patients was 56.86 (SD 16.05) years old with over half of the subjects (55.2%) being female. About 28.7% of performed paracenteses tested positive for SBP. Ascitic calprotectin was positively correlated to the PMN counts. Patients with SBP were found to have higher levels of ascites albumin, total protein, and calprotectin. Only 51 individuals survived the 6-month follow-up period and mortality outcomes were significantly related to the levels of aforementioned biochemical markers (p-value <.05).

Conclusion

Alongside with standard PMN counts, calprotectin measurement in the ascitic fluid could be used as an available test for early diagnosis of SBP. Calprotectin can also serve as a valuable prognostic marker in the evaluation of cirrhotic patients.

Keywords:

• Calprotectin
• ascites
• cirrhosis
• spontaneous bacterial peritonitis
• prognosis

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our deepest gratitude to the patients who took part in this study, while deceased participants are all in our thoughts.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by Liver and Gastrointestinal Diseases Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences.