Fecal markers in the management of inflammatory bowel disease

ABSTRACT

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterized by periods of symptomatic remission and relapse. Diagnosis and assessment of IBD are based on clinical evaluation, serum parameters, radiology, and endoscopy. Fecal markers have emerged as new diagnostic tools to detect and monitor intestinal inflammation. Fecal calprotectin (FC) and lactoferrin (FL) were identified decades ago as potentially revolutionary markers for IBD. Following these discoveries numerous additional markers, including S100A12, M2-PK, metalloproteinases, hemoglobin, myeloperoxidase, lysozyme, polymorphonuclear elastase, neopterin, and nitric oxide, have also been suggested as novel markers of IBD. But only FC and FL are used for the management of clinical IBD patients. The objective of this review is to introduce the clinical applications of fecal markers in the diagnosis, monitoring and prediction of outcomes of inflammatory bowel disease.

KEYWORDS:

• Inflammatory bowel disease
• ulcerative colitis
• Crohn’s disease
• fecal markers
• calprotectin
• lactoferrin

Declaration of interest

The authors declare no financial/other relationships. PGM peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Author’s contributions

Cong Dai, Min Jiang and Ming-Jun Sun wrote the paper. Cong Dai and Ming-Jun Sun had the original idea for the paper. All authors reviewed and approved the final draft of the paper.

Additional information

Funding

This manuscript was supported by the Fund for Scientific Research of The First Hospital of China Medical University [No FSFH201702] and Liaoning Science and Technology Foundation [No 20170541052].