OBJECTIVES:Studies evaluating the correlation between the widely used Simple Endoscopic Score for Crohn's disease (SES-CD) and noninvasive markers are scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between the SES-CD and fecal calprotectin, C-reactive protein (CRP), blood leukocytes, and the Crohn's disease activity index (CDAI).METHODS:Crohn's disease patients undergoing complete ileocolonoscopy were prospectively enrolled and scored independently according to the SES-CD and the CDAI. SES-CD was defined as follows: inactive 0-3; mild 4-10; moderate 11-19; and high >/=20.RESULTS:Values in CD patients (n=140 ileocolonoscopies) compared with controls (n=43) are as follows: calprotectin, 334+/-322 vs. 18+/-5 mug/g; CRP, 26+/-29 vs. 3+/-2 mg/l; and blood leukocytes, 9.1+/-3.4 vs. 5.4+/-1.9 g/l (all P<0.001). The SES-CD correlated closest with calprotectin (Spearman's rank correlation coefficient r=0.75), followed by CRP (r=0.53), blood leukocytes (r=0.42), and the CDAI (r=0.38). Calprotectin was the only marker that could discriminate inactive endoscopic disease from mild activity (104+/-138 vs. 231+/-244 mug/g, P<0.001), mild from moderate activity (231+/-244 vs. 395+/-256 mug/g, P=0.008), and moderate from high activity (395+/-256 vs. 718+/-320 mug/g, P<0.001). The overall accuracy for the detection of endoscopically active disease was 87% for calprotectin (cutoff 70 mug/g), 66% for elevated CRP, 54% for blood leukocytosis, and 40% for the CDAI >/=150.CONCLUSIONS:Fecal calprotectin correlated closest with SES-CD, followed by CRP, blood leukocytes, and the CDAI. Furthermore, fecal calprotectin was the only marker that reliably discriminated inactive from mild, moderate, and highly active disease, which underlines its usefulness for activity monitoring.

The PhiCal Test and IBD-SCAN are highly accurate for discriminating IBD from IBS. There is only marginal additional diagnostic accuracy when the PhiCal Test and IBD-SCAN are combined with ASCA and pANCA. ASCA and pANCA have a high specificity for IBD.

FC correlated better with endoscopic disease activity than clinical activity, CRP, platelets, hemoglobin, and blood leukocytes. The strong correlation with endoscopic disease activity suggests that FC represents a useful biomarker for noninvasive monitoring of disease activity in UC patients.

Fecal calprotectin correlated closest with endoscopic disease activity, followed by Clinical Activity Index, CRP, and blood leukocytes. Furthermore, fecal calprotectin was the only marker that reliably discriminated inactive from mild, moderate, and highly active disease, which emphasizes its usefulness for activity monitoring.

T values in our study sample did not correlate with clinical signs and symptoms of hypogonadism. Thus, according to our data, symptoms of the aging male could be rather multifactorial and should not be indiscriminately assigned to the age associated decrease in T levels.