Serum inflammatory markers in the diagnosis and assessment of Crohn’s disease activity

INTRODUCTION: The aim of our study was to evaluate the diagnostic characteristics of selected inflammatory markers and the results of multiplication of their concentrations in the diagnosis and assessment of Crohn’s disease (CD) activity. METHODS: We studied 49 patients with CD and 31 healthy controls. The CD patients were assigned to subgroups with active and inactive disease based on the Crohn’s Disease Activity Index score. Serum interleukins and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured using immunoassays. RESULTS: Serum CRP and interleukins: IL-6, IL-17A, IL-23 were significantly higher in the CD group than in controls, with the best diagnostic performance for IL-23. Only serum IL-6 and CRP were significantly higher in active than in inactive disease, with the better performance of CRP. Multiplication results did not perform better than individual multipliers. CONCLUSIONS: Serum CRP may be useful in the assessment of CD activity and there is a need for introduction of IL-23 for the CD diagnosis.