Intestinal Research

Original Articles

Predictive accuracy of fecal calprotectin for histologic remission in ulcerative colitis: Arshdeep Singh, Arshia Bhardwaj, Riya Sharma, Bhavjeet Kaur Kahlon, Ashvin Singh Dhaliwal, Dharmatma Singh, Simranjeet Kaur, Devanshi Jain, Namita Bansal, Ramit Mahajan, Kirandeep Kaur, Aminder Singh, Vikram Narang, Harpreet Kaur, Vandana Midha, Ajit Sood; Received May 14, 2024 Accepted July 29, 2024 Published online November 11, 2024; DOI: https://doi.org/10.5217/ir.2024.00068 [Epub ahead of print]

Abstract PDF Supplementary Material PubReader ePub: Background/Aims
Accurate assessment of disease activity is crucial for effective management and treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC). This study evaluated the correlation between clinical, endoscopic, and histologic measures of disease activity in UC.
Methods
Clinical, biochemical, endoscopic, and histologic disease activity was studied in 347 patients with UC. Agreements among various histologic classification systems, namely the Geboes Score (GS), Continuous GS, Nancy Index (NI), and Robarts Histopathology Index (RHI), were analyzed. The predictive accuracy of fecal calprotectin (FC) for endoscopic and histologic remission was assessed.
Results
We demonstrate a fair to moderate correlation between clinical, endoscopic, and histologic measures of disease activity in UC. There was a robust concordance among GS, Continuous GS, NI, and RHI in distinguishing between patients in histologic remission or activity. The NI detected 75% of patients who met the remission criteria according to the RHI, whereas the RHI identified all patients in remission as defined by the NI. FC levels below 150 μg/g had >70% accuracy in predicting endoscopic remission. FC levels below 150 μg/g showed ≥80% accuracy, and FC levels below 100 μg/g demonstrated ≥ 85% accuracy in predicting histologic remission, regardless of the scoring index applied. Elevated FC levels were associated with both acute and chronic inflammatory infiltrates in biopsy samples.
Conclusions
FC is a reliable predictor of histologic remission, with higher accuracy at lower thresholds. The GS, Continuous GS, NI, and RHI demonstrate comparable performance. FC could help stratify patients’ need for colonoscopy for the assessment of endoscopic and histologic remission.

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Clinical characteristics and long-term disease course in patients with Crohn’s disease as diagnosed by video capsule endoscopy: a multicenter retrospective matched case-control study: June Hwa Bae, Su Hyun Park, Jung-Bin Park, Ji Eun Baek, Seung Wook Hong, Sung Wook Hwang, Dong-Hoon Yang, Byong Duk Ye, Jeong-Sik Byeon, Seung-Jae Myung, Suk-Kyun Yang, Kyeong Ok Kim, Byung Ik Jang, Mi Rae Lee, Eun Soo Kim, Sang Hyoung Park; Received April 18, 2024 Accepted July 15, 2024 Published online August 29, 2024; DOI: https://doi.org/10.5217/ir.2024.00056 [Epub ahead of print]

Abstract PDF PubReader ePub: Background/Aims
Video capsule endoscopy is rarely used to diagnose Crohn’s disease in patients with negative ileocolonoscopy or cross-sectional image findings. We evaluated clinical characteristics and long-term outcomes of these rare cases.
Methods
This multicenter study included patients with Crohn’s disease from 3 tertiary hospitals from January 2007 to October 2022. Patients with normal findings on ileocolonoscopy and computed tomography (CT)/magnetic resonance (MR) enterography but had ulcerations at the small bowel detected by video capsule endoscopy were included. The controls were patients with abnormal findings on endoscopy or CT/MR enterography. Controls were case-matched in a ratio of 3:1 for sex, calendar year of diagnosis, and age at diagnosis.
Results
Among 3,752 patients, 24 (0.6%) were diagnosed with Crohn’s disease using video capsule endoscopy findings. The disease location (P< 0.001) and behavior at diagnosis (P= 0.013) of the cases significantly differed from that of controls. The perianal fistula modifier (25.0% vs. 33.3%, P= 0.446) did not differ significantly between the 2 groups. Initial disease activity and C-reactive protein and fecal calprotectin levels were significantly lower in cases versus controls. The median Lewis score was 838 (interquartile range, 393–1,803). Over 10 years of follow-up, the cases showed significantly lower cumulative risk of complicated behavior, biologics use, Crohn’s disease-related hospitalization, and surgeries (log-rank test P< 0.05).
Conclusions
Patients with Crohn’s disease whose lesions were observed only by video capsule endoscopy were rare, and exhibit different clinical characteristics and a more favorable long-term disease course compared to those who were conventionally diagnosed.

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IBD

Intestinal ultrasound for intestinal Behçet disease reflects endoscopic activity and histopathological findings: Katsuki Yaguchi, Reiko Kunisaki, Sho Sato, Kaori Hirai, Misato Izumi, Yoshimi Fukuno, Mami Tanaka, Mai Okazaki, Rongrong Wu, Yurika Nishikawa, Yusuke Matsune, Shunsuke Shibui, Yoshinori Nakamori, Masafumi Nishio, Mao Matsubayashi, Tsuyoshi Ogashiwa, Ayako Fujii, Kenichiro Toritani, Hideaki Kimura, Eita Kumagai, Yukiko Sasahara, Yoshiaki Inayama, Satoshi Fujii, Toshiaki Ebina, Kazushi Numata, Shin Maeda; Intest Res 2024;22(3):297-309. Published online July 16, 2024; DOI: https://doi.org/10.5217/ir.2023.00129

Abstract PDF PubReader ePub: Background/Aims
Intestinal Behçet disease is typically associated with ileocecal punched-out ulcers and significant morbidity and mortality. Intestinal ultrasound is a noninvasive imaging technique for disease monitoring. However, no previous reports have compared intestinal ultrasound with endoscopic ulcer activity or histopathological findings for intestinal Behçet disease. We evaluated the usefulness of intestinal ultrasound for assessing the activity of ileocecal ulcers in intestinal Behçet disease.
Methods
We retrospectively compared intestinal ultrasound findings with 73 corresponding endoscopic images and 6 resected specimens. The intestinal ultrasound findings were assessed for 7 parameters (bowel wall thickness, vascularity [evaluated using the modified Limberg score with color Doppler], bowel wall stratification, white-plaque sign [strong hyperechogenic lines or spots], mesenteric lymphadenopathy, extramural phlegmons, and fistulas), and endoscopic ulcer activity was classified into active, healing, and scar stages. Histopathological findings were evaluated by consensus among experienced pathologists.
Results
Bowel wall thickness (P< 0.001), vascularity (P< 0.001), loss of bowel wall stratification (P= 0.015), and white-plague sign (P= 0.013) were significantly exacerbated in the endoscopic active ulcer stage. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that a bowel wall thickness of > 5.5 mm (sensitivity 89.7%, specificity 85.3%) was potentially useful for detecting active lesions. When compared with histopathological findings, an increase in bowel wall thickness reflected the ulcer marginal ridge, and the white-plaque sign reflected the ulcer bottom.
Conclusions
Intestinal ultrasound is useful for monitoring intestinal ulcer activity in intestinal Behçet disease.

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IBD

Efficacy of serum leucine-rich alpha-2 glycoprotein in predicting findings of Crohn’s disease small bowel lesion in capsule endoscopy: Teppei Omori, Miki Koroku, Shun Murasugi, Ayumi Ito, Maria Yonezawa, Shinichi Nakamura, Katsutoshi Tokushige; Intest Res 2024;22(4):464-472. Published online May 7, 2024; DOI: https://doi.org/10.5217/ir.2023.00139

Abstract PDF Supplementary Material PubReader ePub

Background/Aims
Small bowel capsule endoscopy (SBCE) is an evaluation method for small bowel (SB) lesions in Crohn’s disease (CD). However, the relationship between SBCE findings and the serological biomarker leucine-rich alpha-2 glycoprotein (LRG) remains unclear. We aimed to establish appropriate cutoff values of LRG to predict the presence of SB lesions in CD through SBCE.
Methods
Patients with CD with SB lesions who had undergone SBCE and LRG measurements 1 month before and after the SBCE were included. The LRG values for ulcers ≥0.5 cm and other inflammatory lesions noted in SBCE were determined using the Youden Index, and the sensitivity and specificity were calculated. Additionally, the correlation between the SBCE scores (CD Activity in Capsule Endoscopy) and LRG values was evaluated.
Results
Forty patients without active colorectal lesions were included in the study. When the cutoff value of LRG for SB ulcers ≥ 0.5 cm was set at 14 μg/mL, the sensitivity was 92.3%, specificity was 81.5%, positive predictive value (PPV) was 70.6%, and negative predictive value (NPV) was 95.7%. In contrast, an LRG cutoff value of 12 μg/mL without inflammatory findings had a sensitivity of 91.7%, specificity of 82.1%, PPV of 68.8%, and NPV of 95.8%. CD Activity in Capsule Endoscopy correlated well with LRG values (Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient ρ = 0.681, P< 0.001).
Conclusions
An LRG cutoff value of 14 μg/mL may be useful in predicting the presence of SB ulcers ≥ 0.5 cm, and an LRG cutoff value of 12 μg/mL may be useful in predicting the absence of SB inflammatory findings.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

Leucine-rich alpha-2 glycoprotein as a superior biomarker to C-reactive protein for detecting small bowel lesions in Crohn’s disease
Masashi Ohno, Atsushi Nishida, Akinori Otsuki, Yoshihiro Yokota, Takayuki Imai, Shigeki Bamba, Osamu Inatomi
World Journal of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.2025;[Epub] CrossRef

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IBD

Ischemia-modified albumin: a novel blood marker of endoscopic mucosal healing in inflammatory bowel disease: Seung Bum Lee, Hyun-Ki Kim, Sang Hyuk Park, Ji-Hun Lim, Sang Hyoung Park; Intest Res 2024;22(1):75-81. Published online November 1, 2023; DOI: https://doi.org/10.5217/ir.2023.00065

Abstract PDF Supplementary Material PubReader ePub

Background/Aims
The achievement of endoscopic remission is an important therapeutic goal in the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). We aimed to evaluate the role of fecal calprotectin (FCP) and ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) as biomarkers for evaluating IBD disease activity.
Methods
A total of 48 patients with IBD (20 with ulcerative colitis and 28 with Crohn’s disease) were included in this study. FCP and serum C-reactive protein levels, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and IMA were measured in patients with IBD and compared with endoscopic findings.
Results
Elevated FCP and serum IMA levels were significantly associated with endoscopic non-mucosal healing. The correlation between FCP and IMA was not significant. Analysis of the receiver operating characteristic curve showed that both FCP and IMA had diagnostic value in predicting non-mucosal healing. When the Ln(FCP)+IMA/10 value was calculated using both factors, the predictive value for non-mucosal healing increased; however, no significant difference was observed.
Conclusions
IMA could be a candidate serum biomarker for predicting endoscopic mucosal healing in IBD.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

A novel serum biomarker of endoscopic mucosal healing in inflammatory bowel disease
Hyoun Woo Kang
Intestinal Research.2024; 22(1): 3. CrossRef

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1 Crossref

Review

IBD

Artificial intelligence in inflammatory bowel disease: implications for clinical practice and future directions: Harris A. Ahmad, James E. East, Remo Panaccione, Simon Travis, James B. Canavan, Keith Usiskin, Michael F. Byrne; Intest Res 2023;21(3):283-294. Published online April 20, 2023; DOI: https://doi.org/10.5217/ir.2023.00020

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