Extent of disease affects the usefulness of fecal biomarkers in ulcerative colitis

BACKGROUND: Fecal biomarkers are considered to be useful surrogate markers for endoscopic activity. Given the mechanisms of fecal biomarkers, we hypothesized that the extent of ulcerative colitis (UC; pancolitis, left-sided colitis, and proctitis) could affect the usefulness of fecal biomarkers for assessing endoscopic and clinical disease activity; however, few studies have evaluated the utility of fecal biomarkers in the disease extent of UC. METHODS: Fecal calprotectin, a fecal immunochemical test for hemoglobin, and fecal lactoferrin were used as fecal biomarkers. UC patients, who underwent colonoscopy within 30 days of the fecal biomarker test, participated in this observational study. Clinical and endoscopic disease activity was assessed using the Lichtiger Index and Mayo endoscopic subscore (MES), respectively. RESULTS: A total of 162 colonoscopies were performed on 133 UC patients. A correlation analysis between each biomarker and the MES for each disease-extent subgroup showed a decreased correlation in the proctitis compared with the other groups. With the exception of proctitis, it was possible to distinguish between MES 0 and MES ≥ 1 with high area-under-the-curve values for fecal calprotectin and fecal lactoferrin. The fecal immunochemical test for hemoglobin was superior at discriminating MES 0 for proctitis. CONCLUSIONS: For the practical application of fecal biomarkers for UC patients, it is necessary to consider disease extent before use. In particular, patients with proctitis exhibit a low correlation between stool biomarkers and endoscopic findings. The usefulness of these biomarkers for endoscopic remission is reduced, except for the fecal immunochemical test for hemoglobin. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12876-021-01788-4.