Fecal calprotectin correlated better than C-Reactive Protein with the endoscopic index of severity for inflammatory bowel disease patients

Background: Endoscopy is the gold standard for assessment of mucosal healing of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients. However, it has the disadvantage of being invasive, time consuming, expensive, and sometimes uncomfortable for patients. Aim: Evaluate the correlation between endoscopic index (CDEIS for Crohn's disease (CD), UCEIS for ulcerative colitis (UC)), serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and fecal calprotectin for IBD patients. Materials and Methods: CRP levels and endoscopic scores were collected and calculated. Stool samples were collected and checked by the Quantum Blue Calprotectin HR (Bohlmann laboratories AG, Schonenbuch, Switzerland). Statistic analysis was done by the Spearman Correlation Coefficients. Results: A total of 54 IBD (36 CD and 18 UC) patients were enrolled consequently. For CD patients, fecal calprotectin correlated with both CRP (r=0.528, p=0.001) and CDEIS (r=0.465, p=0.005). For UC patients, fecal calprotectin correlated with UCEIS (r=0.721, p=0.0007) but not with CRP (r=0.391, p=0.11). Conclusions: Fecal calprotectin correlated with both the CDEIS for CD patients and UCEIS for UC patients, it could be used as a surrogate marker for monitoring the mucosal status of IBD patients.