Molander et al. investigated if concentrations of fecal calprotectin can be used for predicting relaps after stopping TNFα blocking therapy in patients with Ulcerative Colitis and Morbus Crohn.
The researchers found that fecal calprotectin seems to increase and remain elevated before clinical or endoscopic relapse, suggesting that it can be used as a surrogate marker for predicting and identifying patients requiring close follow-up in clinical practice. Read abstract
TNFα-blocker such as infliximab (IFX) are applied for inflammatory diseases such as chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
About infliximab & drug monitoring
Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is a means to optimally adjust the TNFα blocker dosage (e. g. of infliximab) to the individual needs of the patient.
It increases the clinical response of patients during induction therapy and makes it more likely for the patient to stay in remission during maintenance therapy. In addition to the therapeutic benefits, TDM helps reducing the cost of treatment.
TDM of infliximab and its biosimilars can be done by using RIDASCREEN® IFX Monitoring. It is an enzyme linked immunoassay intended for the quantitative determination of infliximab in human serum and plasma.
About calprotectin
Fecal calprotectin provides a means of objectively assessing the response to treatment of IBD and for monitoring these patients during clinical remission to enable the early detection and treatment of relapses of IBD.
RIDASCREEN® Calprotectin is an enzyme immunoassay for the quantitative determination of human calprotectin in stool samples.
