@article {10778, title = {Fecal Calprotectin to Detect Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.}, journal = {J Rheumatol}, volume = {45}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 Oct}, pages = {1418-1421}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to test fecal calprotectin (FC) as a screening tool to identify inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) among patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).

METHODS: FC level < 100 g/kg was considered normal. Patients with 2 consecutive FC dosage >= 100 g/kg underwent endoscopic evaluation.

RESULTS: There were 113 patients with JIA enrolled. FC was raised in 7 patients out of 113. All patients had IBD. In 3/7 patients, high FC levels were the only sign consistent with IBD.

CONCLUSION: FC is a useful, economical, and noninvasive diagnostic tool to identify JIA patients with underlying IBD.

}, issn = {0315-162X}, doi = {10.3899/jrheum.171200}, author = {Ferrara, Giovanna and Pastore, Serena and Sancin, Lara and Torelli, Lucio and Radillo, Oriano and Bramuzzo, Matteo and Bibalo, Chiara and Tommasini, Alberto and Ventura, Alessandro and Taddio, Andrea} } @article {8305, title = {Fecal Calprotectin: Diagnostic Accuracy of the Immunochromatographic CalFast Assay in a Pediatric Population.}, journal = {J Clin Lab Anal}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 Feb 15}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Fecal calprotectin is a noninvasive marker for bowel diseases and it is high valuable to follow disease activity in Crohn{\textquoteright}s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). In this study, we evaluated the diagnostic performance of the recently introduced immunochromatographic assay CalFast in comparison to the well-known ELISA tests for calprotectin assay to obtain a rapid diagnosis of bowel inflammation in pediatric patients.

METHODS: CalFast was tested in parallel to the classic ELISA tests CalPrest and PhiCal (gold standards for the calprotectin determination) on 148 fecal samples from pediatric subjects including 104 healthy subjects, 29 with CD, and 15 with UC.

RESULTS: In this study, the sensitivity and specificity of CalFast, CalPrest, and PhiCal were 86.4\%, 88.6\%, and 93.2\% and 86.6\%, 74\%, and 64.4\%, respectively. The area under the curve, obtained from receiver operating characteristic analysis, indicated the lack of significant difference among all the kits used.

CONCLUSION: The immunochromatographic assay demonstrated good diagnostic predictive values, comparable to those of the ELISA methods, and may represent a valid alternative in order to save operators{\textquoteright} time. The test, in fact, has a short turnaround time and does not need a specific ELISA instrumentation.

}, issn = {1098-2825}, doi = {10.1002/jcla.21886}, author = {Radillo, Oriano and Pascolo, Lorella and Martelossi, Stefano and Dal Bo, Sara and Ventura, Alessandro} } @article {3542, title = {The first trimester gravid serum regulates procalcitonin expression in human macrophages skewing their phenotype in vitro.}, journal = {Mediators Inflamm}, volume = {2014}, year = {2014}, month = {2014}, pages = {248963}, abstract = {

Procalcitonin (PCT) is one of the best diagnostic and prognostic markers in clinical practice, widely used to evaluate the evolution of bacterial infections. Although it is mainly produced by thyroid, during sepsis almost all the peripheral tissues are involved in PCT production. Parenchymal cells have been suggested as the main source of PCT expression; however the contribution of macrophages is not clear yet. In response to environmental cues, tissue macrophages acquire distinct functional phenotypes, ranging from proinflammatory (M1) to anti-inflammatory (M2) phenotype. Macrophages at the fetal-maternal interface show immunosuppressive M2-like activities required for the maintenance of immunological homeostasis during pregnancy. This study aims to clarify the ability to synthesise PCT of fully differentiated (M0), polarized (M1/M2) macrophages and those cultured either in the presence of first trimester gravid serum (GS) or pregnancy hormones. We found out that M1 macrophages upregulate PCT expression following LPS stimulation compared to M0 and M2. The GS downregulates PCT expression in macrophages, skewing them towards an M2-like phenotype. This effect seems only partially mediated by the hormonal milieu. Our findings strengthen the key role of macrophages in counteracting inflammatory stimuli during pregnancy, suggesting PCT as a possible new marker of M1-like macrophages.

}, keywords = {Biomarkers, Calcitonin, Cells, Cultured, Chorionic Gonadotropin, Estradiol, Female, Gene Expression Regulation, Homeostasis, Humans, Inflammation, Macrophages, Monocytes, Phenotype, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Trimester, First, Protein Precursors, Serum, Up-Regulation}, issn = {1466-1861}, doi = {10.1155/2014/248963}, author = {Rami, Damiano and La Bianca, Martina and Agostinis, Chiara and Zauli, Giorgio and Radillo, Oriano and Bulla, Roberta} }