Plasma Concentration of Calprotectin, but Not Serum Concentration, Is a Predictive Biomarker for Clinical Remission in Ulcerative Colitis.

Summary: Doctors usually test stool to see if bowel diseases are getting better. But testing stool can be messy and hard to do. This study looked at a new way to check for healing by using a simple blood test. They tested 131 patients who were getting a medicine called infliximab. They found that measuring a protein called "plasma calprotectin" in the blood is a fantastic way to tell if a patient with Ulcerative Colitis is healing. It worked almost perfectly! However, it did not work well for Crohn's disease. This means a simple blood draw could soon replace stool tests for many patients with Ulcerative Colitis.