Abstract

Fecal calprotectin is an established biomarker in inflammatory bowel disease, but its role in assessment of intestinal inflammation in ICU patients is yet to be explored. ICU patients tend to acquire diarrhea, which complicates the extraction of fecal calprotectin using a collection pin for stool sampling. Pipetting is an alternative sampling method. The aim of the study was to compare the collection pin method with the pipette method for measurement of fecal calprotectin in ICU patients with diarrhea. Stool samples were collected from fecal bags used in the patients and then analyzed for calprotectin using an extraction device and a piston pipette, respectively. In addition, a validation test for the pipette method of extraction was conducted on liquid stool samples. Eleven stool samples were collected from five randomly selected ICU patients. Calprotectin was detectable in all fecal samples. On average the collection pin measured 45% lower than the pipette method with a 95% confidence interval (30 − 59%). The coefficient of variation when using the pipette method was 13% in low calprotectin concentrations and 39% in high concentrations. In conclusion, the pipette method seems to be appropriate for measuring calprotectin in liquid feces, due to practicalities and a greater precision.

摘要

粪便钙卫蛋白是炎症性肠病的既定生物标志物，但其在评估 ICU 患者肠道炎症中的作用仍有待探索。ICU 患者往往会出现腹泻，这使得使用收集针提取粪便钙卫蛋白进行粪便采样变得复杂。移液是另一种取样方法。本研究的目的是比较收集针法和移液管法测量 ICU 腹泻患者粪便钙卫蛋白的方法。从患者使用的粪便袋中收集粪便样本，然后分别使用提取装置和活塞吸管分析钙卫蛋白。此外，对液体粪便样本进行了移液器提取方法的验证测试。从 5 名随机选择的 ICU 患者中收集了 11 份粪便样本。在所有粪便样本中都可检测到钙卫蛋白。平均而言，收集针的测量值比移液器方法低 45%，置信区间为 95% (30 - 59%)。使用移液管法时的变异系数在低钙卫蛋白浓度下为 13%，在高浓度下为 39%。总之，由于实用性和更高的精度，移液管方法似乎适合测量液体粪便中的钙卫蛋白。