Abstract Background Faecal calprotectin serves as a marker for intestinal inflammation, aiding in the differentiation of functional bowel disorders and in the management of inflammatory bowel diseases. Elevated levels are also associated with colonic adenoma/polyps, colorectal carcinoma and gastrointestinal bleeding. This study aimed to investigate whether lower gastrointestinal endoscopies — potentially associated with microlesions or bleeding that affect faecal calprotectin concentration — represent a potential pre-analytical error in the diagnostic work-up of gastrointestinal diseases. Methods A total of 92 patients without inflammatory bowel disease underwent elective colonoscopy. In 24 of these patients, an additional endoscopic procedure (mostly oesophagogastroduodenoscopy) was performed concurrently. Faecal calprotectin was measured using ELISA at three time points: before endoscopy, immediately post-intervention and two weeks after colonoscopy. Statistical analysis was conducted using two-sided t-tests with Bonferroni correction. Results Median faecal calprotectin levels were 37.5 µg/g (IQR: 19.8–91.8) pre-intervention, 48.9 µg/g (IQR: 20.4–98.4) immediately post-intervention and 30.8 µg/g (IQR: 17.6–76.7) two weeks later. No significant differences were observed between the time points. Neither biopsy nor polypectomy as interventions, nor histopathological findings, had an influence on immediate post-interventional calprotectin concentrations compared with baseline values. Conclusion Pre-analytical errors due to faecal sampling immediately after colonoscopy were not detectable. Moreover, a short interval between colonoscopy and faecal sampling was not associated with significantly elevated calprotectin levels. References: 1. Updated S3-Guideline Ulcerative Colitis. German Society for Digestive and Metabolic Diseases (DGVS). Aktualisierte S3-Leitlinie Colitis ulcerosa der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Gastroenterologie, Verdauungs- und Stoffwechselkrankheiten (DGVS) - AWMF-Register-Nr. 021/009. Z Gastroenterol. 2019;57(2):162-241. doi:10.1055/a-0824-0861 2. Ross FA, Park JH, Mansouri D, et al. The role of faecal calprotectin in diagnosis and staging of colorectal neoplasia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Gastroenterol. 2022;22(1):176. Published 2022 Apr 9. doi:10.1186/s12876-022-02220-1 Conflict of interest: Mrs. Riese, Johanna: Tobias Schlosser has received travels grants from Ventyx Biosciences and honoraria/mentoring activities from Galapagos/Alfasgima AG, Falk Foundation, and SonoNetz Leipzig. These activities are unrelated to the present research work and do not represent a conflict of interest with this study. Albrecht Hoffmeister and Johanna Riese declare no competing interests.
Riese et al. (Thu,) studied this question.