Application of plasma alternative to serum for measuring leucine-rich α2-glycoprotein as a biomarker of inflammatory bowel disease

PLoS One. 2023 Jun 23;18(6):e0286415. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0286415. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic intestinal disorder characterized by recurrent flare-ups and remission. Leucine-rich α2-glycoprotein (LRG) has been developed as a new serum biomarker of disease activity in patients with IBD. However, there have been no reports on whether plasma LRG can be used as an alternative to serum LRG. Therefore, in this retrospective study, we evaluated the usefulness of plasma LRG compared to serum LRG.

Methods: We conducted a single-center retrospective observational study. A total of 108 IBD patients (ulcerative colitis [UC], 56; Crohn's disease [CD], 52) who received treatment at Sapporo Medical University Hospital between August 2020 and September 2021 were enrolled. Serum and plasma LRG levels were measured using the NANOPIA LRG kit. Disease activity was assessed using the Crohn's Disease Activity Index (CDAI) for CD and partial Mayo (pMayo) score for UC. Endoscopic activity was evaluated using the Mayo Endoscopic Subscore (MES) and Ulcerative Colitis Endoscopic Index of Severity (UCEIS) in patients with UC and the Simple Endoscopic Score for Crohn's Disease (SES-CD) score in patients with CD.

Results: Serum LRG levels significantly correlated with plasma LRG levels (r = 0.990, p<0.0001). Plasma LRG levels were significantly associated with SES-CD (r = 0.992, p<0.0001), indicating that plasma LRG levels may predict endoscopic activity in CD. In UC patients, the cutoff values of plasma LRG for remission were 12.7 μg/mL for MES ≤1 and 10.0 μg/mL for UCEIS of = 0.

Conclusion: The present study showed that plasma LRG levels correlate well with serum LRG levels. Therefore, plasma LRG can be clinically applied as a biomarker for assessing endoscopic disease activity in patients with IBD.

Publication types

  • Observational Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biomarkers
  • Colitis, Ulcerative* / diagnosis
  • Colonoscopy
  • Crohn Disease* / diagnosis
  • Glycoproteins
  • Humans
  • Inflammatory Bowel Diseases* / diagnosis
  • Leucine
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Severity of Illness Index

Substances

  • Leucine
  • Biomarkers
  • Glycoproteins

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Health and Labour Sciences Research Grants for research on intractable diseases from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) of Japan (Investigation and Research for intractable Inflammatory Bowel Disease) (Grant Number 20FC1037). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.