Gabriele Dragoni1,2,3, Tommaso Innocenti4,5, Andrea Galli5. 1. IBD Referral Center, Gastroenterology Department, Careggi University Hospital, Florence, Italy, gabriele.dragoni@unifi.it. 2. Gastroenterology Research Unit, Department of Experimental and Clinical Biochemical Sciences "Mario Serio", University of Florence, Florence, Italy, gabriele.dragoni@unifi.it. 3. Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, Siena, Italy, gabriele.dragoni@unifi.it. 4. IBD Referral Center, Gastroenterology Department, Careggi University Hospital, Florence, Italy. 5. Gastroenterology Research Unit, Department of Experimental and Clinical Biochemical Sciences "Mario Serio", University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronically relapsing disease with a continuous need for proactive monitoring to decide appropriate treatments and follow-up strategies. To date, gastrointestinal endoscopy with histologic examination of biopsies and contrast-enhanced imaging are mandatory techniques for the diagnosis and the activity assessment of IBD. SUMMARY: In recent decades, many research efforts in the IBD field have been placed on finding non-invasive and reliable biomarkers of disease burden that can be easily tested in body fluids without impacting the quality of life of patients. Unfortunately, the ideal biomarker is yet to be discovered and recent studies have investigated the possibility to increase the accuracy of such measurements by combining different markers. In this review, we provide an update about the current knowledge on biomarkers of intestinal inflammation in IBD, focussing on disease diagnosis, correlation with endoscopic findings, and prediction of relapse. We also summarize composite scores of clinical and laboratory markers that have been recently proposed in various scenarios of disease activity. Key Messages: To date, only C-reactive protein and faecal calprotectin can be considered reliable markers of disease activity with demonstrated utility in IBD management. The combination of different parameters has recently shown higher accuracy and might substitute single-marker approaches in the future of research and clinical practice.
BACKGROUND:Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronically relapsing disease with a continuous need for proactive monitoring to decide appropriate treatments and follow-up strategies. To date, gastrointestinal endoscopy with histologic examination of biopsies and contrast-enhanced imaging are mandatory techniques for the diagnosis and the activity assessment of IBD. SUMMARY: In recent decades, many research efforts in the IBD field have been placed on finding non-invasive and reliable biomarkers of disease burden that can be easily tested in body fluids without impacting the quality of life of patients. Unfortunately, the ideal biomarker is yet to be discovered and recent studies have investigated the possibility to increase the accuracy of such measurements by combining different markers. In this review, we provide an update about the current knowledge on biomarkers of intestinal inflammation in IBD, focussing on disease diagnosis, correlation with endoscopic findings, and prediction of relapse. We also summarize composite scores of clinical and laboratory markers that have been recently proposed in various scenarios of disease activity. Key Messages: To date, only C-reactive protein and faecal calprotectin can be considered reliable markers of disease activity with demonstrated utility in IBD management. The combination of different parameters has recently shown higher accuracy and might substitute single-marker approaches in the future of research and clinical practice.
Authors: Jessica Cusato; Lorenzo Bertani; Miriam Antonucci; Cristina Tomasello; Gian Paolo Caviglia; Simone Dibitetto; Alessandro Massano; Michela Mangia; Jacopo Mula; Linda Ceccarelli; Francesco Costa; Federico Zanzi; Marco Astegiano; Davide Giuseppe Ribaldone; Antonio D'Avolio Journal: Pharmaceuticals (Basel) Date: 2021-11-27