title: Diagnostic accuracy of fecal lactoferrin for inflammatory bowel disease: a meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To do a systematic review using meta-analysis to assess the diagnostic accuracy of fecal lactoferrin (FL) in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a literature review and systematically searched the Medline and EMBASE databases for eligible studies. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the QUADAS tool. The sensitivity, specificity, and other diagnostic indexes of FL were pooled using a random-effects model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seven studies, involving 1816 patients, met the inclusion criteria. In all studies, the pooled FL sensitivity and pooled specificity were 0.82 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.72, 0.89) and 0.95 (95% CI: 0.88, 0.98), respectively. The positive and negative likelihood ratios were 16.63 and 0.18, respectively. The area under the summary receiver-operating characteristic curve (SROC) was 0.95 (95% CI: 0.93, 0.97), and the diagnostic odds ratio was 90.04 (95% CI: 37.01, 219.02). The pooled FL sensitivity and specificity for Crohn's disease (CD) diagnosis (sensitivity =75%, specificity =100%) was not as good as it was for ulcerative colitis (UC) diagnosis (sensitivity =82%, specificity =100%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  FL, as a noninvasive and screening marker, has a high specificity and a modest specificity during the diagnosis of suspected IBD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, General Hospital of Ji'nan Military Area Ji'nan 250031, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Ji'nan Central Hospital Ji'nan 250013, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Fengyan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pei
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, General Hospital of Ji'nan Military Area Ji'nan 250031, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Xingjuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, General Hospital of Ji'nan Military Area Ji'nan 250031, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Zhiyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, General Hospital of Ji'nan Military Area Ji'nan 250031, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Chengjin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Division of Chest Disease, The Fourth Hospital of Ji'nan Ji'nan 250013, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Hengli
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dou
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D007781:Lactoferrin / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012372:ROC Curve; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C490098:LTF protein, human; D007781:Lactoferrin
keywords: Crohn’s disease meta-analysis; Fecal lactoferrin; inflammatory bowel disease; ulcerative colitis