Association between calprotectin and volatile fatty acids in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases

Abstract

Aim. To evaluate the content of calprotectin and volatile fatty acids (VFAs) in feces of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Materials and methods. 61 patients (33 men and 28 women) with IBD aged 20 to 66 years (the mean indicator was 41.80 ± 1.14 years) were examined. The patients were treated in the Department of Intestinal Diseases of SI “Institute of Gastroenterology of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine”. All the patients were divided into two groups: Group I – 46 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Group II – 15 patients with Crohn’s disease (CD). The control group consisted of 10 practically healthy people (donors). Calprotectin detection in fecal samples was carried out using a kit “Immundiagnostik”, Germany. Fecal VFAs were analyzed using a hardware-software complex for medical research with a gas chromatograph Chromatek-Crystal 5000. Results. A significant increase in the content of fecal calprotectin was found. Its amount depended on the disease nosology and was more expressed in patients with UC (3.5 times higher (P < 0.05) than that in patients with CD). The observed changes were accompanied by an increase in the content of propionic (C3) acid and a decrease in acetic (C2), butyric (C4) acids in coprofiltrates of the examined patients. The detected imbalance in the fecal content of VFAs in patients led to an increase in the amount of fatty acids, which was more pronounced in patients with CD. An association between calprotectin levels and fecal VFA content was identified. Thus, correlation analysis allowed to establish a relationship between calprotectin levels and propionic acid content in patients with IBD (r = 0.370; P = 0.046). Conclusions. In the case of active bowel inflammation, there is the increase in the fecal content of calprotectin and the decrease in VFAs (acetic and butyric acids) in accordance with the degree of disease activity, which allows the use of these indicators to assess the efficacy of therapies.