STUDY OF ALBUMIN, C-REACTIVE PROTEIN AND CALPROTECTIN AS NON-INVASIVE INDICATORS FOR THE DIAGNOSIS AND DIFFERENTIATION OF INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE

Background. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is defined as an “inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine”. The main forms of IBD are ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. The study aims to evaluate fecal calprotectin with albumin and C-reactive protein as non-invasive indicators of (IBD), mainly in patients with digestive symptoms, who are offered for endoscopic-assessment. Methods. The study includes 104 participants, who are divided into the control, Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis groups. Gender, age, BMI, albumin, C-reactive protein (CRP), as well as fecal calprotectin are measured. Results. The results show a significant increase in C-reactive protein and calprotectin (26.77 ± 1.485 mg/l and 419.8 ± 16.99 µg/mg, respectively) in patients with ulcerative colitis, compared to the control group, which shows a mean value of 6.567 ± 1.802 mg/l and 92.98 ± 10.94 µg/mg for C-reactive protein and fecal calprotectin, respectively. The highest value of the CRP result in patients with Crohn’s disease is 40.82 ± 2.191 mg/l and the highest significant difference in calprotectin value is 296.2 ± 17.87 µg/mg, related to the control. Conclusion. The results show high and significant differences in serum C-reactive protein and fecal calprotectin in the patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease compared to the healthy people in the control group. In addition, the results show a significant difference in serum C-reactive protein and fecal calprotectin between the ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease groups. The results of the study suggest the use of these tests as non-invasive indicators to assess the diagnosis and its differentiation.