Comparison of Fecal Calprotectin Level in Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Abstract

Background: Fecal calprotectin (FC) has been suggested as a noninvasive substitute marker to determine the degree of intestinal inflammation in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of this study was to compare FC levels in IBD and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), to show its discriminative value and relationship with clinical disease activity in patients with IBD.

Materials andMethods: During the time period betweenMay 2008 andNovember 2009, 41 patientswith newly diagnosed or relapse of IBD and 40 patients with IBS who referred to Gastroenterology Clinic of Firoozgar Hospital, Tehran, Iran, were selected in a consecutive randommanner.Asample of stool was collected fromeach patient before colonoscopy, and fecal calprotectin levels were measured using an ELISA kit (Buhlmann Co.,Switzerland). Differences in FC levels were considered statistically significant where p‹0.05.

Results: Mean calprotectin level in IBD cases (newly diagnosed and relapse) was 193.57±147.79μg/gr,which was significantly higher than those in IBS cases (28.25±15.13μg/gr) and the difference wasstatistically significant (p‹0.001).

Conclusion: FC levels can be used to differentiate patients with IBD from those with non-inflammatory gastrointestinal disorders such as IBS and can be used as a screening tool for selection of patients who need colonoscopy.