The Relationship of Fecal Calprotectin in Inflammatory Bowel Disease and its Difference from Crohn's Disease

Calprotectin makes approximately 60% of the cytosolic protein in neutrophils, which are found throughout the human body, and to a smaller extent in monocytes and macrophages. The primary fluids that contain these cells include plasma, urine, feces, saliva, and cerebrospinal fluid. Calcprotectin affects a wide range of physiological processes, such as inflammation, apoptosis, cancer, immunological regulation, and cell differentiation. Calprotectin is regarded as a positive acute phase protein and is involved in inflammation.When distinguishing between organic and functional causes of gastrointestinal illness through symptoms or clinical examination is challenging, faecal calprotectin can be helpful. In clinical practice, it is employed to distinguish between irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), as the latter has a distinct pathophysiology despite sharing many of the same signs and symptoms. IBD is classified as an organic disease because it affects the intestinal wall, while IBS is classified as a functional condition because it affects gut motility. Faecal calprotectin also has the useful property of being a good marker of mucosal healing or inflammatory recurrence when its levels vary.Faecal calprotectin can therefore be used to monitor IBD patients and identify those who are at risk of relapsing. Fecal calprotectin is strongly associated with ulcerative colitis but weakly with Crohn's disease, where the difference was diagnosed in terms of laboratory parameters and symptoms. Both diseases are considered among the most current health problems for children and adolescents, as they are found in larger numbers among these ages than among adults.