P0574 Correlations Between Inflammatory Biomarkers and Hematological Parameters in Assessing Disease Activity in IBD

Abstract Background Monitoring ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) involves assessing inflammatory and hematological biomarkers to evaluate disease activity, treatment response, and the impact of inflammation on overall health. The aim of this study was to assess if hematological and inflammatory biomarkers along with clinical parameters correlate with IBD inflammatory activity and severity. Methods The study retrospectively analyzed 100 IBD patients, of which 72 patients with UC and 38 patients with CD. Age, hematological parameters (hemoglobin, iron and ferritin), inflammatory biomarkers (CRP, fibrinogen and fecal calprotectin) and clinical scores such as Truelove and Witts for UC and UCDAI for CD were analyzed. Pearson's correlation coefficient demonstrated relationships between hematological and inflammatory biomarkers, while the Kruskal-Wallis test evaluated associations between these biomarkers and clinical scores. Results The mean age was 44.02 years, with UC patients averaging 43.03 years and CD patients 49.3 years, reflecting a slightly older demographic for CD. Age was negatively correlated with iron (-0.93) and positively with ferritin (0.88), indicating that older individuals have less iron deposits. Hemoglobin levels (mean 11.81 g/dL) were reduced across both diseases and exhibited significant negative correlations with CRP (-0.93) and fecal calprotectin (-0.91). Systemic (CRP) and intestinal (fecal calprotectin) inflammation can diminish hemoglobin levels in IBD patients, causing inflammatory anemia. Iron levels were lowest in CD (61.78 µg/dL) and correlated negatively with CRP (-0.93) and ferritin (-0.99) during active systemic inflammation, while ferritin levels (107.89 ng/mL) were elevated, particularly in active inflammation in CD group. Intestinal inflammation impacts iron status (-0.40), while ferritin and CRP are positively correlated (0.96), showing that systemic inflammation enhances iron storage. Fecal calprotectin emerged as a particularly sensitive marker of intestinal inflammation, showing the highest levels in UC patients (517.18 µg/g) and significant correlations with clinical activity scores (p = 0.02) for both Truelove-Witts and UCDAI. Hemoglobin was the only parameter that showed a weak trend of correlation with clinical scores (p=0.06), without statistical significance. Conclusion Hematological and inflammatory biomarkers along with clinical parameters correlate with IBD inflammatory activity and severity of the inflammatory process. The results highlight the effectiveness of biomarker evaluation in the personalized management of patients, enabling the adaptation, configuration, or establishment of monitoring schedules and therapeutic optimization based on the inflammatory profile.