Fecal Calprotectin as a Potential Biomarker of Gastrointestinal Inflammation in Children With Cerebral Palsy: A Prospective Pilot Study.

Abstract

The presence of calprotectin in feces may be a consequence of neutrophil migration into the gastrointestinal tissue thanks to an inflammatory process. Fecal calprotectin is a non-invasive, cost-effective, specific, and sensitive test used to compare fecal calprotectin concentrations between cerebral palsy children and healthy children and to investigate the relationship between fecal calprotectin levels and cerebral palsy.A total of 25 patients with cerebral palsy and 27 healthy children were included in the study. We conducted a 3-month cohort study following two groups of children. One stool sample was collected from each participant. Subjects provided a single fecal sample for calprotectin measurements. Fecal samples were frozen on receipt at -80°C for further analysis.Median fecal calprotectin levels were found to be statistically significantly higher in the cerebral palsy group than in the control group (p=0.01). Albumin levels in the cerebral palsy group were found to be statistically significantly higher than in the control group (p=0.04). Total protein levels were statistically significantly higher in the cerebral palsy group than in the control group (p=0.01). This study confirms the possible association between increased calprotectin and cerebral palsy disease. The cut-off point, determined as 23.5 μg/g based on fecal calprotectin levels, yielded a sensitivity value of 0.92 and a specificity value of 0.96.Children with cerebral palsy exhibit elevated fecal calprotectin levels compared to healthy peers, suggesting altered intestinal inflammatory activity. Although fecal calprotectin is not proposed as a diagnostic marker for cerebral palsy, it may serve as an adjunctive indicator of subclinical intestinal inflammation in this population.