Fecal markers in the management of inflammatory bowel disease

Inflammatory biomarkers and psychological variables to assess quality of life in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic gastrointestinal condition. While inflammatory biomarkers are valuable for diagnosing and monitoring the disease, their correlation with patients' quality of life (QoL) is not well-established.

PURPOSE

This study aims to investigate the correlations between inflammatory biomarkers and the quality of life (QoL) variables of individuals diagnosed with IBD in clinical remission.

METHODS

The sample of this cross-sectional study included 74 patients (80% women; 45 ± 11 years old) diagnosed with IBD. Outcome variables included faecal calprotectin (FC), C-reactive protein (CRP), cortisol levels from hair samples, and anxiety and depression assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-A and HADS-D, respectively), alongside QoL evaluated with the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire 32 (IBDQ-32). Bivariate correlations were calculated using the Pearson correlation coefficient, and stepwise linear regression analyses were conducted to identify independent factors contributing to IBDQ-32 scores.

RESULTS

The IBDQ-32 did not significantly correlate with any biomarkers. However, it exhibited a large and statistically significant negative correlation with HADS-A (r = -0.651) and HADS-D (r = -0.611) scores (p < 0.001). Stepwise linear regression analyses indicated that HADS-A was a significant and independent predictor for IBDQ-32 scores (Adjusted R2 = 0.41, β = -0.65, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Inflammatory markers such as CRP, FC, or cortisol in hair do not play a decisive role in assessing the QoL of IBD patients. These findings emphasize the significance of considering psychological factors in evaluating and managing QoL in IBD patients in order to identify severity, suggesting that instruments like HADS should be integral to comprehensive patient assessments.

Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1 Is a Novel Faecal Biomarker for Monitoring Disease Activity and Therapeutic Response in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Crohn's disease [CD] and ulcerative colitis [UC] require lifelong treatment and patient monitoring. Current biomarkers have several limitations; therefore, there is an unmet need to identify novel biomarkers in inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]. Previously, the role of plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 [PAI-1] was established in the pathogenesis of IBD and suggested as a potential biomarker. Therefore, we aimed to comprehensively analyse the selectivity of PAI-1 in IBD, its correlation with disease activity, and its potential to predict therapeutic response.

METHODS

Blood, colon biopsy, organoid cultures [OC], and faecal samples were used from active and inactive IBD patients and control subjects. Serpin E1 gene expressions and PAI-1 protein levels and localisation in serum, biopsy, and faecal samples were evaluated by qRT-PCR, ELISA, and immunostaining, respectively.

RESULTS

The study population comprised 132 IBD patients [56 CD and 76 UC] and 40 non-IBD patients. We demonstrated that the serum, mucosal, and faecal PAI-1 concentrations are elevated in IBD patients, showing clinical and endoscopic activity. In responders [decrease of eMayo ≥3 in UC; or SES-CD  50% in CD], the initial PAI-1 level decreased significantly upon successful therapy. OCs derived from active IBD patients produced higher concentrations of PAI-1 than the controls, suggesting that epithelial cells could be a source of PAI-1. Moreover, faecal PAI-1 selectively increases in active IBD but not in other organic gastrointestinal diseases.

CONCLUSIONS

The serum, mucosal, and faecal PAI-1 concentration correlates with disease activity and therapeutic response in IBD, suggesting that PAI-1 could be used as a novel, non-invasive, disease-specific, faecal biomarker in patient follow-up.

Biosensing Intestinal Alkaline Phosphatase by Pregnancy Test Strips Based on Target-Triggered CRISPR-Cas12a Activity to Monitor Intestinal Inflammation

With an increasing incidence worldwide, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting the gastrointestinal tract, which impairs the life quality of patients. Therefore, it is of great significance to construct a sensitive, simple, and convenient biosensor to analyze IBD-associated biomarkers for an auxiliary diagnosis of IBD. Intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP), expressed by the intestinal epithelium, is an endogenous protein that is thought to play a vital role in maintaining intestinal homeostasis and is considered a potential biomarker for IBD. Here, an IAP detection method was developed using pregnancy test strips by dephosphorylation. Initially, a double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) was designed to respond to IAP and acted as an activator of Cas12a. In the presence of IAP, the designed dsDNA was not digested by lambda exonuclease (λ exo), which hybridized to the Cas12a-crRNA duplex and resulted in the activation of the trans-cleavage of Cas12a. Further, the activated Cas12a cleaved the single-strand DNA (ssDNA) linker in the MBs-ssDNA-hCG probe, triggering the release of hCG. With magnetic separation, the released hCG could be quantitatively detected by pregnancy test strips. IAP levels were analyzed in feces from colitis and healthy mice by pregnancy test strips. The results showed that the IAP level of colitis mice (3.89 ± 1.92 U/L) was much lower than that of healthy mice (39.64 ± 24.93 U/L), indicating the correlation between IAP and intestinal inflammation. Taken together, a sensitive, user-friendly detection assay based on pregnancy test strips was constructed to monitor IAP and used as an auxiliary diagnostic approach for IBD in a clinical scene.

Proteomic Analysis Identifies Three Reliable Biomarkers of Intestinal Inflammation in the Stools of Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease

BACKGROUND

Faecal biomarkers have emerged as important tools in managing of inflammatory bowel disease [IBD], which includes Crohn's disease [CD] and ulcerative colitis [UC].

AIM

To identify new biomarkers of gut inflammation in the stools of IBD patients using a proteomic approach.

METHODS

Proteomic analysis of stools was performed in patients with both active CD and CD in remission and in controls by 2-DIGE and MALDI-TOF/TOF MS. An ELISA was used to confirm results in a second cohort of IBD patients and controls.

RESULTS

2-DIGE analysis detected 70 spots in the stools of patients with active CD or patients in remission CD and in controls. MALDI-TOF/TOF MS analysis identified 21 proteins with Chymotrypsin C, Gelsolin and Rho GDP-dissociation inhibitor 2 [RhoGDI2] best correlating with the levels of intestinal inflammation. Results were confirmed in a second cohort of IBD patients and controls [57 CD, 60 UC, 31 controls]. The identified faecal markers significantly correlated with the severity of intestinal inflammation in IBD patients [SES-CD in CD, Mayo endoscopic subscore in UC] [CD; Chymotrypsin-C: r = 0.64, p < 0.001; Gelsolin: r = 0.82, p < 0.001; RhoGDI2: r = 0.64, p < 0.001; UC; Chymotrypsin-C: r = 0.76, p < 0.001; Gelsolin: r = 0.75, p < 0.001; RhoGDI2: r = 0.63, p < 0.001]. Moreover, ROC analysis showed that Gelsolin [p < 0.0002] and RhoGDI2 [p < 0.0001] in CD, and RhoGDI2 [p = 0.0004] in UC, have higher sensitivity and specificity than faecal calprotectin in discriminating between patients and controls.

CONCLUSIONS

We show for the first time that 2-DIGE is a reliable method to detect proteins in human stools. Three novel faecal biomarkers of gut inflammation have been identified that display good specificity and sensitivity for identifying IBD and significantly correlate with IBD severity.

Gut Dysbiosis Is Associated With the Severity of Cryptogenic Stroke and Enhanced Systemic Inflammatory Response

Studies implicate that gut dysbiosis is related with many neurological diseases. However, the potential role of gut dysbiosis in cryptogenic stroke (CS) has not been elucidated yet. In this study, a high prevalence of gastrointestinal (GI) dysfunction and gut inflammation with increased intestinal permeability have been found in CS patients compared with normal controls (NCs). The systemic inflammation in CS patients was also identified by measuring the levels of plasma C-reactive protein (CRP), lipopolysaccharide (LPS), LPS-binding protein (LBP), and white blood cells (WBC) count. Using 16S rRNA sequencing, we found increased alpha diversity, accompanied by a higher abundance of Enterobacteriaceae, Streptococcaceae, and Lactobacillaceae at the family level and Escherichia–Shigella, Streptococcus, Lactobacillus, and Klebsilla at the genus level in the intestinal microbiota of CS patients compared to NCs. Our results showed that the abundance of Klebsilla was positively correlated with the systemic inflammation, the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores, and the infarct volumes. In conclusion, gut dysbiosis in CS patients was associated with the severity of CS and the systemic inflammation. Maintaining the intestinal homeostasis may be a potential strategy for the treatment of CS.

Monitoring of intestinal inflammation and prediction of recurrence in ulcerative colitis

Background and objectives: Ulcerative colitis is a chronic recurrent intestinal inflammatory disease, and its recurrence is difficult to predict. In this review, we summarized the objective indicators that can be used to evaluate intestinal inflammation, the purpose is to better predict the clinical recurrence of UC, formulate individualized treatment plan during remission of UC, and improve the level of diagnosis and treatment of UC.Methods: Based on the search results in the PUBMED database, we explored the accuracy and value of these methods in predicting the clinical recurrence of UC from the following three aspects: endoscopic and histological scores, serum biomarkers and fecal biomarkers.Results: Colonoscopy with biopsy is the gold standard for assessing intestinal inflammation, but it is invasive, inconvenient and expensive. At present, there is no highly sensitive and specific endoscopic or histological score to predict the clinical recurrence of UC. Compared with serum biomarkers, fecal biomarkers have higher sensitivity and specificity because they are in direct contact with the intestine and are closer to the site of intestinal inflammation. Fecal calprotectin is currently the most studied and meaningful fecal biomarker. Lactoferrin and S100A12, as novel biomarkers, have no better performance than FC in predicting the recurrence of UC.Conclusions: FC is currently the most promising predictive marker, but it lacks an accurate cut-off value. Combining patient symptoms, incorporating multiple indicators to construct a UC recurrence prediction model, and formulating individualized treatment plans for high recurrence risk patients will be the focus of UC remission management.

Early Change in Fecal Calprotectin Predicts One-Year Outcome in Children Newly Diagnosed With Ulcerative Colitis

INTRODUCTION

While fecal calprotectin (FC) is used to assess disease activity in ulcerative colitis (UC) there are little data concerning the role of serial FC levels at diagnosis in predicting clinical course. We sought to determine whether FC at diagnosis or early change following therapy predicts clinical outcomes in pediatric UC.Methods: Children with newly diagnosed UC were treated with standardized regimens of mesalamine or corticosteroids (CS). CS tapering and escalation to additional therapy or colectomy were by protocol. Patients with baseline or week 4 or week 12 FC levels were included in the analysis. Our primary outcome was CS-free remission on mesalamine at week 52. We compared the prognostic value of a baseline FC as well as a change in FC by week 4 or week 12 in predicting clinical outcomes.

RESULTS

The study included 352 children (113 initial mesalamine, 239 initial CS, mean age 12.6 years) with UC. At Week 52, 135 (38.3%), 84 (23.8%), and 19 (5.4%) children achieved CS-free remission, needed anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy or had colectomy respectively. Baseline FC was not associated with CS-free remission at week 52. However, both week 4 (odds ratio [OR] 0.95, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.901.00) and week 12 FC levels (OR 0.91, 95% CI 0.87-0.96) were associated with outcomes, with the latter having a stronger association with CS-free remission. Patients with a >75% decrease by 12 weeks, had a 3-fold increased likelihood of CS-free remission at 1 year.

DISCUSSION

Longitudinal changes in FC may predict 1 year outcomes better than values at diagnosis in children with a new diagnosis of UC.

Fecal calprotectin as a predictor of gastrointestinal immune-related adverse events (CF-19): A prospective study

Background: Colitis is a frequent immune-related toxicity, without any biomarker that may predict its onset. It is endoscopically similar to intestinal inflammatory diseases, where fecal calprotectin (FC) is used as a biomarker to early-detect a relapse. We found contradictory evidence about FC and immunotherapy and no prospective study was already published.   Methods: We present an analytical, observational and prospective study of one year’s duration. We analyzed FC basal, and then prior to each cycle until the sixth, ending with quarterly follow-up. For evaluating the predictive value of FC we estimated the area under the ROC curve for basal absolute values and for each cycle, and calculated its relative percentage change with respect to basal. We also planned to estimate sensitivity, specificity and predictive values indexes for different cut-off points. Because of lack of recruitment we did a preliminary analysis at the end of the initially estimated period before suggesting its prolongation.   Results: 24 patients (19 male) were included in the study. This included n=15 diagnosed with lung cancer, head and neck, renal, bladder and colorectal cancer (n=2, each), and melanoma (n=1). They were treated with Anti PD-1/PDL-1 mono therapy (n=18), combo with chemo (n=2), or combo with anti-CTLA4 (n=2). Three patients had G1 colitis and two, >=G2, all treated with anti-PD1 and before 6th cycle, as described on literature. ROC curve presents AUC 0,559 (CI95%:0,32-0,798) and RR for colitis taking FC value is 1,001 for each 10 units (p=0,493).   Conclusion: Even though we must take into account the limitations of the study we cannot conclude that FC could be used as a predictor for detecting immune-mediated colitis.

Evaluation of fecal calprotectin as a marker of gastrointestinal inflammation in rosacea: A case-control study

A higher incidence of gastrointestinal diseases has been well established in patients with rosacea. However, no screening tool has been introduced for gastrointestinal disease development in rosacea. Fecal calprotectin (FC) is a calcium-binding protein, mainly derived from polymorpho-nuclear cells, such as neutrophils. It has been established as a marker of gastrointestinal inflammation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate FC levels in patients with rosacea without any gastrointestinal diseases. A prospective, case-control study was planned to investigate the relationship between rosacea and gastrointestinal involvement by evaluating FC levels and the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS). A total of 47 patients with rosacea and 39 healthy control subjects were included in the study. The FC levels were statistically significantly higher in rosacea group than in the control group (65.96 ± 58.86 ng/mL vs 31.99 ± 20.12 ng/mL, P = .026, respectively). A statistically significant difference was also observed in GSRS values between the patient and the control groups (30.26 ± 12.48 vs 22.62 ± 7.64, P = .001, respectively). A positive correlation was noted between FC levels and the values of GSRS in the study group (r: 0.354; P = .001) and in the rosacea group (r = 0.392, P = .006). The measurement of FC may be useful in the early detection of gastrointestinal system diseases that may accompany rosacea and may provide a pathway to develop treatment strategies targeting both skin and intestinal mucosa.

Unravelling of nitric oxide signalling: A potential biomarker with multifaceted complex mechanism associated with canine inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an important chronic condition associated with the infection affecting the gastrointestinal tract (G.I.) in dogs. Several factors' viz. gastrointestinal tract lymphoid tissue (GALT), permeability defects, genetic, ischemic, biochemical, psychosomatic disorders, infectious and parasitic agents, dietary allergies, and adverse drug reactions are associated with inflammatory bowel disease. The most noticeable clinical signs are vomiting, diarrhea, changes in appetite, weight loss, anorexia, ascites and peripheral edema. Nitric oxide (NO), a pleiotropic free radical messenger molecule plays an immense role in playing mucosal inflammation in the intestine through activation of NO synthase enzyme (iNOS). The complex mechanism associated with inflammation in the G.I. tract is also correlated with the expression of iNOS, enzymatic activity, and NO production. NO exerts a beneficial role in maintaining epithelial permeability as well as the immune response in acute colitis. But the excessive production of NO causes adverse effects. In the review, the author suggests that a complex phenomenon is associated with competing biochemical pathways triggered by NO through the regulation of mucosal inflammation in inflammatory bowel disease. This review is a unique compilation about the role of NO in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease of the dogs.

Fecal Lactoferrin and Other Stool Markers during Normal Pregnancy and in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: A Prospective Study and Review of the Literature

Introduction

Management of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) - both Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) - during pregnancy can be challenging since most monitoring tools available in nonpregnant patients are contraindicated.

Objectives

The aim of the study was to test whether fecal inflammatory markers - specifically fecal lactoferrin - physiologically change during normal pregnancy as a prerequisite to use them to monitor IBD activity during pregnancy.

Methods

Fecal lactoferrin was tested in healthy pregnant and nonpregnant women from the same geographic area and age range (18-40 years) - all negative for clinical gastrointestinal tract inflammation. A retrospective review of fecal lactoferrin levels contrasted with the Simple Endoscopic Score for CD, and the Disease Activity Index for UC was also performed in women with active IBDs within the same age range and geographical area.

Results

In 30 nonpregnant subjects, fecal lactoferrin levels were 0.87 ± 1.08 μg/g. In 49 pregnant subjects, levels were 0.59 ± 0.83, 0.87 ± 1.13, and 0.85 ± 1.06 μg/g during the first, second, and third trimester, respectively (p = 0.64), with average levels for the 3 trimesters of 0.81 ± 1.04 μg/g (p = 0.61 compared to nonpregnant subjects). Sequential fecal lactoferrin levels (n = 26) did not differ from one trimester to the other in the individual subjects (p = 0.80). In 45 female IBD patients (27 with CD and 18 with UC), fecal lactoferrin levels were correlated with disease activity as defined by the endoscopic scores: 218, 688, and 1,175 μg/g for CD and 931, 2,088, and 2,509 μg/g for UC, respectively, for mild, moderate, and severe activity.

Conclusions

Fecal lactoferrin levels during normal pregnancy are superimposable to those of nonpregnant women and significantly below levels in women of the same childbearing age with active IBDs. Additional published data - reviewed in this atricle - and our own indicate that fecal lactoferrin and other markers can be potentially used to monitor disease activity in pregnant IBD patients.

Evaluating Metagenomic Prediction of the Metaproteome in a 4.5-Year Study of a Patient with Crohn's Disease

Although genetic approaches are the standard in microbiome analysis, proteome-level information is largely absent. This discrepancy warrants a better understanding of the relationship between gene copy number and protein abundance, as this is crucial information for inferring protein-level changes from metagenomic data. As it remains unknown how metaproteomic systems evolve during dynamic disease states, we leveraged a 4.5-year fecal time series using samples from a single patient with colonic Crohn's disease. Utilizing multiplexed quantitative proteomics and shotgun metagenomic sequencing of eight time points in technical triplicate, we quantified over 29,000 protein groups and 110,000 genes and compared them to five protein biomarkers of disease activity. Broad-scale observations were consistent between data types, including overall clustering by principal-coordinate analysis and fluctuations in Gene Ontology terms related to Crohn's disease. Through linear regression, we determined genes and proteins fluctuating in conjunction with inflammatory metrics. We discovered conserved taxonomic differences relevant to Crohn's disease, including a negative association of Faecalibacterium and a positive association of Escherichia with calprotectin. Despite concordant associations of genera, the specific genes correlated with these metrics were drastically different between metagenomic and metaproteomic data sets. This resulted in the generation of unique functional interpretations dependent on the data type, with metaproteome evidence for previously investigated mechanisms of dysbiosis. An example of one such mechanism was a connection between urease enzymes, amino acid metabolism, and the local inflammation state within the patient. This proof-of-concept approach prompts further investigation of the metaproteome and its relationship with the metagenome in biologically complex systems such as the microbiome. IMPORTANCE A majority of current microbiome research relies heavily on DNA analysis. However, as the field moves toward understanding the microbial functions related to healthy and disease states, it is critical to evaluate how changes in DNA relate to changes in proteins, which are functional units of the genome. This study tracked the abundance of genes and proteins as they fluctuated during various inflammatory states in a 4.5-year study of a patient with colonic Crohn's disease. Our results indicate that despite a low level of correlation, taxonomic associations were consistent in the two data types. While there was overlap of the data types, several associations were uniquely discovered by analyzing the metaproteome component. This case study provides unique and important insights into the fundamental relationship between the genes and proteins of a single individual's fecal microbiome associated with clinical consequences.