Inflammatory bowel diseases
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Inflamm. Bowel Dis. · Dec 2017
ReviewSurrogate Fecal Biomarkers in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Rivals or Complementary Tools of Fecal Calprotectin?
Current noninvasive methods for assessing intestinal inflammation in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remain unsatisfactory. Along with C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate, fecal calprotectin (FC) is the standard test for assessing IBD activity, even though its specificity and accuracy are not optimal and it lacks a validated cutoff. Over the past few decades, several fecal markers released from intestinal inflammatory cells have been investigated in IBD; they are the subject of this systematic review. ⋯ Several fecal biomarkers have the potential to become useful tools complementing FC in IBD diagnosis and monitoring. However, wide variability in their accuracy in assessment of intestinal inflammation suggests the need for further studies.