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Review
. 2024 May 5;60(5):762.
doi: 10.3390/medicina60050762.

Serum Calprotectin in the Evaluation of Gastrointestinal Diseases: An Ace up Your Sleeve?

Angela Saviano  1   2 , Alessio Migneco  1 , Mattia Brigida  3 , Carmine Petruzziello  4 , Christian Zanza  5 , Gabriele Savioli  6 , Francesco Franceschi  1   2 , Veronica Ojetti  2   4
Affiliations
Review

Serum Calprotectin in the Evaluation of Gastrointestinal Diseases: An Ace up Your Sleeve?

Angela Saviano et al. Medicina (Kaunas). .

Abstract

Background: Calprotectin (CP) is a calcium- and zinc-binding protein that plays a key role in innate immunity and in the recruitment of inflammatory cells. CP can be detected both in serum and in fecal samples. Serum CP (sCP) is more specific for autoimmune diseases, while fecal CP (fCP) has been well investigated for gastrointestinal diseases. Few studies have shown the clinical effectiveness of sCP as an acute-phase biomarker for gastrointestinal diseases. Aim: The aim of this narrative review is to discuss the role of sCP as a useful alternative biomarker of the acute-phase activity of gastrointestinal diseases and as a possible tool for screening and monitoring these diseases. Material and Methods: We searched original articles, abstracts, reviews, case reports, and clinical trials on PubMed®, Up-to-Date®, and Medscape® in the last ten years. Conclusion: We found that sCP could represent a useful biomarker in the evaluation of the inflammatory stage in patients with immune-mediated gastrointestinal diseases, but more studies are needed to promote its routine use in clinical practice as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker as a replacement for fCP.

Keywords: IBD; autoimmune diseases; fecal calprotectin; microbiota; serum calprotectin.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Serum calprotectin (sCP) utility and application in immune-mediated diseases [4,39,40,41,42,43].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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