251 Table 1. Study population characteristics (n = 39) of Crohn’s disease patients with ‘normal’ (< 200 mg/kg) and increased (> 200 mg/kg) fecal calprotectin levels. Characteristics Calprotectin < 200 mg/kg (n = 22) Calprotectin > 200 mg/kg (n = 17) P-value Age (years) 40.5 ± 2.4 39.7 ± 3.4 0.788 Male gender 5 (22.7) 5 (29.4) 0.721 BMI (kg/m2) 24.9 ± 1.4 25.8 ± 1.2 0.350 Active smoking 2 (9.1) 1 (5.9) 1.000 Maintenance medication 0.501 None 7 (31.8) 3 (17.6) Thiopurines 4 (18.2) 4 (23.5) Mesalamine 4 (18.2) 2 (11.8) TNF-antagonists 3 (13.6) 6 (35.3) Combination therapy 4 (18.2) 2 (11.8) Montreal, Localization 0.194 L1 (ileal) 11 (52.4) 4 (23.5) L2 (colonic) 3 (14.3) 4 (23.5) L3 (ileocolonic) 7 (33.3) 9 (52.9) Montreal, Behavior 0.322 B1 (non-stricturing, nonpenetrating) 14 (66.7) 8 (47.1) B2 (stricturing) 5 (23.8) 8 (47.1) B3 (penetrating) 2 (9.5) 1 (5.9) Ileocecal resection 8 (36.4) 5 (29.4) 0.740 Hemoglobin (mmol/l) 8.4 ± 0.2 8.4 ± 0.2 0.787 CRP (mg/l) 2.1 ± 0.6 8.2 ± 2.4 0.002* ESR (mm/h) 12.5 ± 2.2 23.6 ± 4.2 0.017* WBC (x109/l) 6.9 ± 0.5 6.9 ± 0.4 0.723 Thrombocytes (x109/l) 264 ± 13 308 ± 17 0.229 ASAT (U/l) 22 ± 1 23 ± 3 0.977 ALAT (U/l) 18 ± 2 23 ± 5 0.580 Creatinine (µmol/l) 68 ± 2 70 ± 3 0.681 BMI, body mass index; HBI, Harvey Bradshaw index; CRP, C-reactive protein; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; WBC, white blood cell count; ASAT, aspartate aminotransferase; ALAT, alanine aminotransferase. Data are presented as numbers (proportions, n (%)) or mean ± SE. Differences between groups were tested with MannWhitney U-test for continuous variables and Fisher’s exact test for nominal variables. *P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant; **P value < 0.01. Results Characteristics of the study population are presented in Table 1. Patients with a ‘normal’ fecal calprotectin level (n = 22) had a mean age of 40.5 ± 2.4 years and consisted of 5 males (22.7%) and 17 females (77.3%). Patients with an increased level of fecal calprotectin (n = 17) had a mean age of 39.7 ± 3.4 years and consisted of 5 males (29.4%) and 12 females (70.6%). Patients with increased fecal calprotectin levels had significantly higher C-reactive protein (CRP) levels (P < 0.01) and higher erythrocyte sedimentation rates (ESR) (P < 0.05) as compared to patients with fecal calprotectin levels in the normal range. No significant differences between groups were observed for disease location, medication use, smoking habits, surgery history and standard laboratory parameters. Table 1 | Study population characteristics (n = 39) of Crohn’s disease patients with‘normal’ (< 200 mg/kg) and increased (> 200 mg/kg) fecal calprotectin levels. BMI, body mass index; HBI, Harvey Bradshaw index; CRP, C-reactive protein; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; WBC, white blood cell count; ASAT, aspartate aminotransferase; ALAT, alanine aminotransferase. Data are presented as numbers (proportions, n (%)) or mean ± SE. Differences between groups were tested with Mann-Whitney U-test for continuous variables and Fisher’s exact test for nominal variables. *P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant; **P-value < 0.01. Inflammatory proteins in Crohn’s disease
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