The purpose of this prospective intention-to-diagnose pilot research was to evaluate the accuracy of serum and fecal amino-acids in distinguishing de novo juvenile inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) from non-IBD children. Following laboratory tests or endoscopy, patients with suspected IBD were assigned to the IBD or non-IBD groups based on the updated Porto-criteria. Fecal calprotectin levels were measured, and a blood and fecal sample were taken. High performance liquid chromatography was used to examine the amino acid profiles of feces and serum.
There were substantial differences in nine fecal amino acids between IBD and non-IBD. There were no significant changes in serum. This study highlights the potential of fecal amino-acids as new, adjuvant noninvasive, and low-cost biomarkers in juvenile IBD diagnosis.
