title: Intestinal fatty acid-binding protein levels in Necrotizing Enterocolitis correlate with extent of necrotic bowel: results from a multicenter study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (I-FABP) is considered as a specific marker for enterocyte damage in necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association of plasma and urinary I-FABP levels with the extent of macroscopic intestinal necrosis in surgical NEC.
  
  
  METHODS
  We combined data from prospective trials from two large academic pediatric surgical centers. Nine and 10 infants with surgical NEC were included, respectively. Plasma and urinary of I-FABP at disease onset were correlated with the length of intestinal resection during laparotomy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median length of bowel resection was 10cm (range 2.5-50) and 17cm (range 0-51), respectively. Median I-FABP levels were 53ng/mL (range 6.3-370) and 4.2ng/mL (range 1.1-15.4) in plasma in cohort 1 respectively cohort 2 and 611ng/mL (range 3-23,336) in urine. The length of bowel resection significantly correlated with I-FABP levels in plasma (Rho 0.68; p=0.04 and Rho 0.66;p=0.04) and in urine (Rho 0.92; p=0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This 'proof of concept' study demonstrates that plasma and urine I-FABP levels at disease onset was strongly associated with the length of intestinal resection in surgical NEC. This offers further evidence that I-FABP levels are a promising biomarker for assessing intestinal necrosis in infants with advanced NEC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Beatrix Children's Hospital, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: f.h.heida@umcg.nl.
authors.forename: F H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Heida
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Beatrix Children's Hospital, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J B F
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Hulscher
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Beatrix Children's Hospital, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schurink
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Pathology, Beatrix Children's Hospital, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Timmer
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Neonatology, Beatrix Children's Hospital, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: E M W
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Kooi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Neonatology, Beatrix Children's Hospital, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Bos
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Beatrix Children's Hospital, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J L M
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Bruggink
authors.affiliation: Research Core Unit for Pediatric Biochemistry and Analytics, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Kasper
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pones
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Benkoe
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D015331:Cohort Studies; D020345:Enterocolitis, Necrotizing / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery / Q000652:urine; D050556:Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins / Q000097:blood* / Q000652:urine*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007422:Intestines / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D009336:Necrosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D011446:Prospective Studies
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C493404:FABP2 protein, human; D050556:Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins
keywords: Intestinal fatty acid-binding protein; Necrosis; Necrotizing enterocolitis; Pathology; Surgical intervention