High-sensitivity C-reactive protein in paediatric inflammatory bowel disease

AIM:To study whether high-sensitivity C-reactive protein(hs-CRP) measurement can aid the assessment of disease activity and glucocorticoid treatment in paediatric inflammatory bowel disease(IBD).METHODS:CRP levels were measured in 39 children with IBD undergoing colonoscopy [median age 12.8 years,Crohn’s disease(CD) n=20],in 22 other children with IBD followed for acute response to glucocorticoids,and in 33 paediatric non-IBD patients.When standard CRP level was below detection limit(<5mg/L),hs-CRP was analyzed.RESULTS:Sixty-four percent(25/39) of the children with IBD undergoing colonoscopy displayed undetectable(<5mg/L) standard CRP levels.Of these,the hs-CRP measurement could not differentiate between active(median,0.2 mg/L,range,0.007-1.37,n=17) or quiescent(0.1 mg/L,0.01-1.89,n=8,P=NS) disease.Patients with ileocolonic CD had higher CRP levels(14mg/L,0.06-45,n=13) than patients with no ileal involvement(0.18 mg/L,0.01-9,n=7,P<0.01) or ulcerative colitis(UC)(0.13 mg/L,0.007-23,P<0.05).In children with active IBD treated with systemic glucocorticoids,the standard CRP was undetectable in 59% of the patients.The hs-CRP levels did not differ between patients that responded to steroid therapy and in non-responders.CONCLUSION:The measurement of hs-CRP did not prove useful in the assessment of disease activity or glucocorticoid treatment in paediatric IBD patients that had undetectable standard CRP.