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Introduction. Fecal calprotectin (FC) is the most popular and well-studied non-invasive biomarker in diagnosing and monitoring inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients and it is routinely tested and widely used in clinical practice. Aim. to evaluate the usefulness of FC in predicting clinical relapse in IBD patients treated with anti-TNF agents, during one year of follow-up. Methods. We conducted a retrospective study including 50 IBD patients treated with anti-TNF agents (Infliximab, Adalimumab), in clinical remission (defined according to clinical Mayo and CDAI score) for at least 6 months, evaluated in a tertiary center between April 2021 through April 2022. For each patient, demographic and clinical parameters, data on the extent of the disease, type of treatment and FC value were collected. The patients included in the study were reevaluated 1 year later after the initial evaluation, regarding clinical remission/relapse. Results. There were 29 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) (58 %) and 21 with Crohn's disease (CD) (42 %)), with a mean age of 42 years (21-63 years). 28 patients (18 with UC and 10 with CD) were treated with Infliximab and 22 (11 UC, 11 CD) with Adalimumab. Out of 50 IBD patients, 28 (56%) had FC <50 μg/g, 15 (30%) had FC between 50 - 150 μg/g and 7 (14%) had FC ≥ 150 μg/g. After 12 months, we observed persistent clinical remission rates of 82.75% (24) for UC and 71.42% (15) for CD. Clinical relapse was present in no patient with FC <50 μg/g, in 47% of patients with FC between 50 - 150 μg/g, and in 71.42% of the patients with FC ≥ 150 μg/g. All UC who relapsed had initial FC value more than 150 μg/g. There were no differences in clinical relapse in patients treated with Infliximab vs Adalimumab. Conclusion. FC more than 150 μg/g is a good noninvasive marker for 1 year clinical relapse in IBD patients treated with anti-TNF. The predictive role is more obvious for patients with UC compared to CD, regardless of the type of anti-TNF used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and Aim: In recent years, liver biopsy was replaced by non-invasive methods in the assessment of hepatic fibrosis (transient elastography, real time elastography, FibroTest). The aim of this study was to test whether there is any connection between food intake and the assessment of liver stiffness (LS) measured by non-invasive methods (Fibroscan) in the case of HCV infected patients. Methods: We conducted a single-center retrospective study over a period of 2 years (January 2017 - January 2019). 66 patients with confirmed diagnosis of HCV infection which were evaluated in order to determine whether or not they qualify for the interferon free therapy and 25 healthy volunteers were enrolled in the study. Demographic, clinical characteristics and laboratory findings were collected from medical records. All patients included underwent Fibroscan. LS was measured before and 30 minutes after receiving a standard mixed solid meal. Results: 91 subjects (66 HCV patients/25 healthy volunteers) were included in the study. The mean BMI was 25.6 ± 4.5 kg/m2. In the HCV group, 52 had moderate fibrosis (F1-F3) and 14 cirrhosis (F4). LS significantly increased 30 min after food intake (pre-meal 9.1 kPa vs. after- meal 9.8 kPa; p < 0.001) in patients with HCV infection. There was no statistically significant difference in LS value measured before/after food intake in healthy volunteers. LS values increased after meals in all stages of fibrosis. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that LS measured by Fibroscan increases after food intake in patients with HCV infection. An accurate assessment of LS is important in these patients because its value represents an inclusion criteria for DAA therapy, therefore its measurement should be performed in standardized fasting conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. There are an inverse association between Helicobacter Pylori (H. pylori) infection and prevalence of IBD [5, 10,11,12]. Also studies have reported an inverse association between H. pylori prevalence and disease severity of IBD [13]. H. pylori is one of the environmental infections causing changes in gut microbiota and immune system dysregulation, which may affect IBD activity. The current study aimed to compare the clinical, laboratory, and histological severity of the newly diagnosed IBD with the presence or absence of H. pylori infection. Methods. This was a retrospective study that included 50 newly diagnosed inflammatory bowel disease patients (30 ulcerative colitis patients and 20 Crohn's disease patients). Diagnosis of IBD was based on both endoscopy/colonoscopy and biopsy. Also, for assesing Disease activity was quatified by CDAI for Crohn disease and UCDAI dor ulcerative colitis. Also, fecal calprotectine was evaluated. The presence of H. pylori was evaluated by the H. pylori stool antigen test (HpSA). Results: The overall positivity of H. pylori infection in patients with IBD was 19.2%. Patients with HpSA had a significantly lower fecal calprotectine (145.57 ± 28.12 vs. 320.57 ± 67.54 (μg/mg); P= 0.02), Mayo score (4.12 ± 1.09 vs. 8.01 ± 1.23; P < 0.001) and CDAI score (112 ± 67 vs. 198 ± 89; P < 0.001) compared to those with negative HpSA. Conclusion. We reported a significantly lower H. pylori infection rate in IBD patients. H. pylori-positive IBD patients have a milder disease with less activity compared to H. pylori-negative IBD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]