Role of Sepsis Markers as Potential Biomarkers for Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Goals: This study aimed to investigate whether sepsis markers act as biomarkers of ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). Background: The identification of noninvasive biomarkers for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is advantageous. This prospective observational study investigated whether the sepsis markers, interleukin-6 (IL-6), presepsin (PSEP), procalcitonin (PCT), and pentraxin 3 (PTX3), act as biomarkers of UC and CD. Study: Patients with UC or CD underwent endoscopy and assessment of the abovementioned sepsis markers, C-reactive protein (CRP), and leucine-rich alpha 2 glycoprotein (LRG). We prospectively examined the association of these markers with clinical activity and endoscopic scores, including the Mayo endoscopic subscore (MES) and simple endoscopic score for Crohn’s disease (SES-CD). Results: Eighty-eight patients with UC and 49 patients with CD were enrolled. MES significantly correlated with LRG, CRP, IL-6, PSEP, and PTX3 in patients with UC. SES-CD significantly correlated with LRG, CRP, IL-6, and PTX3 in patients with CD. In UC, MES to 3 groups showed significantly higher LRG, CRP, and IL-6 levels than the MES 0 to 1 groups. The LRG, CRP, IL-6, PSEP, and PTX3 levels were significantly higher in the SES-CD ≥3 group than in the SES-CD ≤2 group. Conclusions: IL-6 in UC and IL-6, PSEP, and PTX3 in CD are potential biomarkers. Overall, our findings could promote better management of IBD.