CHSJ

Curr Health Sci J, vol. 47, no. 2, 2021

Clostridoides Difficile Infection Severity Assessment by Fecal Calprotectin: A Pilot Study

[Original Paper]

M.N. VOICU(1), A.M. AHMET(2), A. TURCU-STIOLICA(3), B.S. UNGUREANU(4), A.N. DRAGOESCU(5), F. POPESCU(6)


(1)Phd Student, Department of Pharmacology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Romania;
(2)Student, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Romania;
(3)Department of Pharmacoeconomics, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Romania;
(4)Department of Gastroenterology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Romania;
(5)Department of Anesthesiology University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Romania;
(6)Department of Pharmacology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Romania


Abstract:

Clostridoides difficile infection (CDI) is the leading cause of antibiotic related diarrhea therapy and may associate high morbidity and mortality. Providing a potential biomarker to assess disease severity may help physicians in choosing the right treatment. Methods. This was a prospective, single-centre cohort study which included patients diagnosed with CDI which were assessed by fecal calprotectin (FC). Results. Patients included had a mean of 69.29 years of age, 54.23% of male gender. Patients diagnosed with mild CDI had a mean ATLAS score of 3.39 (±1.24), statistically lower (p<0.001) than patients with severe CDI who had a mean ATLAS score of 7.33 (±0.77). Fecal calprotectin concentrations were significantly higher (p<0.001) in the severe CDI patients (615.14?g/g; IQR, 403.62-784.4?g/g) than in the mild CDI patients (195.42?g/g; IQR, 131.12-298.59?g/g). We suggest a cut-off of 290.09?g/g for the predictive marker of fecal calprotectin, which permitted to identify patients with severe and mild CDI, having 100% sensitivity and 76% specificity. Conclusions. Our findings point out the potential that FC might have, as a biomarker for disease severity. However, future multicentre studies and in larger cohort need to validate the results.


Keywords: Clostridoides difficile infection, fecal calprotectin, predictive value



Corresponding: Alice Nicoleta Dragoescu, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Romania, e-mail: alice.dragoescu@yahoo.com


DOI 10.12865/CHSJ.47.02.09 - Download PDF
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