The role of serum visfatin in the diagnosis of active inflammatory bowel disease in Egyptian patients: A cross-sectional study

Background: Active inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is associated with increased morbidity and a poor quality of life. Early diagnosis using noninvasive methods is the target of the most recent studies. Visfatin is an adipocytokine with proinflammatory effects; its level has been shown to be significantly elevated in patients with active IBD. The objective of this study is to detect the level of visfatin in IBD patients and its correlation with disease activity. Methods: The study included 30 patients with active Crohn’s disease (CD) (Group I), 30 patients with active ulcerative colitis (UC) (Group II), and 30 healthy subjects as a control group (Group III). All participants underwent a thorough history taking, physical examination, and a series of laboratory investigations. These included a complete blood count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein (CRP), serum visfatin (measured using the ELISA technique), fecal calprotectin (FCP), and ileocolonoscopy (conducted for patients only), along with histopathological examination of biopsy specimens. Results: Serum visfatin level was significantly elevated in Groups I and II in comparison to Group III (mean: 4448.9 ± 1337.0 pg/ml and mean: 2521.7 ± 1462.3 pg/ml vs. mean: 390.88 ± 457.43 pg/ml, respectively, P < 0.001). Serum visfatin showed a significant positive correlation with CRP and FCP in both Groups I and II ( P < 0.001), CD Activity Index and Simple Endoscopic Score for CD in Group I ( P < 0.001), and Mayo score in Group II ( P < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that serum visfatin could discriminate patients with active CD and active UC from the normal control group at a cutoff value of >1692.69 pg/mL and >866.89 pg/mL, respectively. Conclusion: Serum visfatin may serve as a novel noninvasive marker for IBD activity and severity.