RESUMO
This study comprised 62 outpatients with ulcerative colitis who underwent 64 colonoscopies. The disease activity was evaluated according to endoscopic and histological criteria. The results revealed a significant correlation between both the endoscopic as well as the histological gradings of disease activity and faecal calprotectin. The median faecal calprotectin levels in the control group (6 mg/l) and in the patients with no or low disease activity (11.5 mg/l) were significantly different (p < 0.0001). The median calprotectin level among patients with active disease was 68 mg/l which was significantly different from the latter group (p < 0.0001). Furthermore, we suggest that the degree of inflammation rather than the extent of the disease determined the faecal calprotectin levels. In conclusion, assessment of faecal calprotectin seems to be a marker of disease activity in patients with ulcerative colitis.
Assuntos
Colite Ulcerativa/metabolismo , Fezes/química , Granulócitos/química , Moléculas de Adesão de Célula Nervosa/metabolismo , Adolescente , Adulto , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Biomarcadores/análise , Plaquetas/química , Proteínas Sanguíneas/análise , Proteínas Sanguíneas/metabolismo , Sedimentação Sanguínea , Colite Ulcerativa/diagnóstico , Doenças do Colo/metabolismo , Endoscopia , Feminino , Hemoglobinas/análise , Hemoglobinas/metabolismo , Histocitoquímica , Humanos , Complexo Antígeno L1 Leucocitário , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Albumina Sérica/análiseRESUMO
This study describes methods for extraction and quantification of calprotectin (L1 protein) in feces by enzyme immunoassay. This protein is a prominent antimicrobial component of neutrophils, monocytes, macrophages, and squamous epithelia. Calprotectin was stable in feces during storage for 7 days at room temperature. Small fecal samples taken from a 24-h feces collection gave a reliable estimate of calprotectin. Within-assay precision was 1.9%, and between-assay precision 14.8%. In healthy subjects (n = 33) median fecal calprotectin was 2025 micrograms/l and in hospital controls (n = 40) 10,500 micrograms/l. Median values in patients with Crohn's disease (n = 21) was 43,000 micrograms/l and in ulcerative colitis (n = 17) 40,000 micrograms/l. Fecal calprotectin was significantly correlated to fecal alpha 1-antitrypsin in the patients with Crohn's disease. Ten of 11 patients with gastrointestinal carcinomas had calprotectin level above the suggested reference limit of 6740 micrograms/l.