title: Fecal lactoferrin as a noninvasive biomarker in inflammatory bowel diseases.
abstract: The diagnosis and management of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), i.e., Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, still present a number of challenges. The fecal biomarker lactoferrin has been shown to be useful in the diagnosis and management of these diseases. This review includes a discussion of the current literature on lactoferrin as a biomarker of intestinal disease, detection of disease activity in IBD, comparison of lactoferrin to endoscopy and histology, lactoferrin measurement in pediatric IBD and lactoferrin as a biomarker for monitoring medical treatment in IBD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal and Integrative Medicine, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany. jost.langhorst@gmx.de
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Langhorst
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Boone
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers; D016099:Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D007781:Lactoferrin / Q000032:analysis*; D039841:Leukocyte L1 Antigen Complex / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D039841:Leukocyte L1 Antigen Complex; D007781:Lactoferrin