title: Calprotectin as a diagnostic tool for inflammatory bowel diseases.
abstract: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic intestinal disorders caused by a number of factors, including external influences, intestinal microbiota and genetics. The two major clinically defined types of IBD are Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, each of which is characterized by relapses in the clinical course, thus patients must be under constant observation via regular endoscopies. As endoscopy, which has been used for direct evaluation and diagnosis of IBD, requires uncomfortable and expensive bowel preparation, a non-invasive test was required to reduce the number of patients undergoing unnecessary endoscopy. Calprotectin is a protein occurring in the cytosol of inflammatory cells and is released by the activation of leukocytes. As it is elevated and stable in the faeces of patients with IBD and can be reliably detected in faecal samples of <5 g, it may serve as an inexpensive, non-invasive diagnostic method for IBD. This is explored in the following review.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Experimental Surgery and Surgical Research N.S Christeas, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 11527, Greece.
authors.forename: Marianthi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chatzikonstantinou
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Experimental Surgery and Surgical Research N.S Christeas, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 11527, Greece.
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Konstantopoulos
authors.affiliation: Fourth Department of Surgery, Athens University Medical School, Attikon University Hospital, Athens 12462, Greece.
authors.forename: Spyros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stergiopoulos
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Propedeutic Surgery, 'Laiko' General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, Athens 11527, Greece.
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kontzoglou
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Propedeutic Surgery, 'Laiko' General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, Athens 11527, Greece.
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Verikokos
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Experimental Surgery and Surgical Research N.S Christeas, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 11527, Greece.
authors.forename: Despina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Perrea
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Propedeutic Surgery, 'Laiko' General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Medical School, Athens 11527, Greece.
authors.forename: Dimitris
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dimitroulis
keywords: calprotectin; diagnostic marker; inflammatory bowel disease