Fecal Calprotectin – a Non-invasive Marker for Assessing the Intestinal Inflammation in Patients with Colonic Diverticular Disease

Abstract

AIM: To assess the fecal calprotectin (FCP) values in different degrees of colonic diverticular disease (DD) and to assess histologically the presence (or absence) of inflammation in the colonic mucosa in these patients. METHODS: This study enrolled 45 patients with different types of DD who had all undergone total colonoscopy. The control group consisted of 15 healthy controls and 17 patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). FCP was analyzed in stool samples by means of “Calpo Test” based on ELISA. RESULTS: The mean value of FCP in the healthy controls was 37.9 mg/kg. The mean value in IBS patients was 33.8 mg/kg and did not differ significantly (р=0.4630) from that of the healthy controls. In the patients with asymptomatic DD the mean value of FCP was 48.7 mg/kg and there was no significant difference from those in the healthy controls (р=0.2326) and the IBS patients (р=0.0922). The mean value of FCP in symptomatic DD patients was 115.3 mg/kg, which is significantly higher than those in all other subgroups – healthy controls (р<0.0001), IBS patients (р<0.0001), and asymptomatic DD (р<0.001). In patients with diverticulitis FCP values were significantly higher (mean value of 433.2 mg/kg), the differences were statistically significant as compared to healthy controls (p<0.0001), IBS patients (р<0.0001), subgroups with asymptomatic DD (р<0.01) and symptomatic DD (р<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: FCP is a non-invasive, easy to investigate and reliable biomarker for assessing the intestinal inflammation in patients with DD of the colon and for distinguishing these patients from patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders.