What is Calprotectin?
Calprotectin is a 36 kDa heterodimeric calcium bind protein that comprises approximately 60% of the cytosolic proteins present in inflammatory cells. Therefore, during intestinal inflammation, calprotectin quantification can be used to measure the level of neutrophils present in the intestinal lumen.
Fecal calprotectin has been shown to increase at a faster rate than serum calprotectin suggesting that fecal calprotectin quantification is a significant biomarker for early stage intestinal mucosal inflammation. In addition, calprotectin is highly resistant to degradation by gastric proteases making it an ideal fecal biomarker for non-invasive detection of intestinal inflammation.
A wide variety of conditions can result in increased neutrophils present in the GI tract including:
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
- Crohn’s Disease (CD)
- Food/protein sensitivities
- Ulcerative Colitis (UC)
- Infectious (pro-inflammatory) organisms