The calprotectin biomarker test stands at the crossroads to help direct physicians and patients to appropriate focused care for gut and brain symptoms.
Most Americans are familiar with gut inflammation and its symptoms of stomach cramping, diarrhea, excessive gas, and constipation. Such symptoms often accompany acute illness from viruses and bacteria such as those that cause food poisoning.
Inflammation is a sign that your body’s immune system has amped up to clear out an infection, and when it succeeds symptoms often subside, and your body returns to homeostasis.
When bothersome gastrointestinal (GI) problems persist and normal activities are interrupted for many days or weeks—especially in the absence of an infection—it’s common to think a visit to a gastroenterologist may be helpful.
There’s a simple test, however, that your family or primary care physician can order to determine your next steps, which might help you avoid seeing a specialist or give your gastroenterologist clues to expedite your treatment. A fecal calprotectin biomarker assay, determined with a stool sample, costs about $20 and is fairly straightforward and accurate.
IBS, IBD, and Dementia
Calprotectin is a protein made by neutrophils, a type of white blood cell. It rushes to the gut when there is inflammation or infection. Higher amounts indicate inflammation, and that can help doctors distinguish whether you may be dealing with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), the latter of which isn’t inflammatory in nature. Emerging research is also connecting the test to dementia, which is also related to IBD.
Because there are many overlapping symptoms between IBD and IBS, measuring calprotectin may help patients avoid more expensive and invasive testing such as colonoscopies and endoscopies. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, a well-trained doctor should be able to determine whether a patient is suffering from IBS without imaging tests.
Dr. Carl Bryce, a family physician who wrote about the biomarker for American Family Physician in 2021, explained that fecal calprotectin can help doctors begin treatments faster by honing in on whether inflammation is present.
“As a primary care doctor, I want to be assured I’m not delaying a diagnosis by labeling someone with IBS and treating them for that rather than missing a case of IBD,” he told The Epoch Times. “IBD has more potential harms of being missed because it is associated with colon cancer. They need to be watched very closely. Patients with IBS don’t have those same risks, even though they do have a number of distressing symptoms.”
By Amy Denney
