Cure8 research brief
Why This Matters
Fecal calprotectin rises, even without symptoms, may flag a higher short-term relapse risk in UC patients maintained on 5-ASA alone. That could support more proactive monitoring or consideration of treatment changes for a subset of patients.
Who Should Pay Attention
Adult UC patients on 5-ASA/mesalamine monotherapy, gastroenterologists/IBD clinicians, and researchers focused on biomarkers for relapse prediction.
Study Snapshot
What To Know
The authors analyzed 20 patients in clinical remission on stable 5-ASA therapy who had an FCP increase from ≤142 µg/g to above that threshold. Four patients (20%) relapsed within 6 months. Median FCP at the time of elevation was higher in those who relapsed (533 µg/g) than those who did not (219 µg/g).
An exploratory ROC analysis suggested an optimal cutoff around 491 µg/g (AUC 0.828), but this is preliminary given the small sample size.
Keep In Mind
Small retrospective study (n=20) with exploratory analyses. Assay-specific thresholds were used; external validation is needed before adopting the reported cutoff (491 µg/g) clinically.
Source Details
Review the original publication for the complete reporting, methods, and context.
This Cure8 brief is based on source text from the linked article. Cure8 is informational only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.