Fecal calprotectin as a diagnostic marker of inflammatory process in the intestinal mucosa in preterm infants with perinatal pathology

Abstract

Fecal calprotectin (FC) is a heterocomplex calcium- and zinc-binding protein that exhibits bactericidal, fungicidal and immunomodulatory properties, performs regulatory functions in inflammatory reactions, and has a beneficial effect on the protection of the body in physiologically normal environments, such as the intestinal ecosystem, in healthy infants during the first weeks of life [Kapel N, 2010; Li F, 2015; Lychkovska OL, 2015; Koninckx CR, 2021]. FC is released from cells under stress or damage and enters the feces and reflects the transepithelial migration of neutrophils to the intestinal lumen, is a marker of intestinal inflammation and allows to differentiate irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease [Li F, 2015; Katzinger J, 2020]. FC is mainly derived from granulocytes, its concentration is directly proportional to the degree of transepithelial migration of granulocytes or newly recruited macrophages to the intestinal tract. Thus, the increased concentration of FC may be the result of higher intestinal permeability, the establishment of intestinal flora, as the infant's body has not yet developed the ability to regulate it, the response to nutritional antigens, as well as the colonization of the intestine with commensal microbes that help prevent intestinal infections and block the interaction between pathogens and host cells [Savino F, 2010; Kapel N, 2010].