Calprotectin News

The recent Calprotectin Regional User Group meetings, organised by Alpha Laboratories, generated lively and informative discussions between new, experienced and some potential calprotectin assay users. Over 40 participants attended across the three meetings held in London, Birmingham and Manchester, travelling from as far afield as Truro and Glasgow. The majority of attendees had already set

Faecal calprotectin testing hit the news headlines late last year following publication of the NICE diagnostic guidelines: ‘Faecal calprotectin diagnostic tests for inflammatory diseases of the bowel’ (DG11). Measurement of faecal calprotectin is considered to provide a reliable indicator of gastrointestinal (GI) tract inflammation and numerous studies show that, while faecal calprotectin concentrations are significantly

In October 2013 NICE produced guidance (DG11) recommending the use of faecal calprotectin testing to help doctors distinguish between inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and non-inflammatory bowel diseases, such as irritable bowel syndrome. You can read more about the NICE guidelines here. The Health Technologies Adoption Programme (HTAP) are now

The second Alpha Laboratories seminar on Diagnostics for Digestive Health was held on the 17th October at the Academy of Medical Sciences in London. The day brought together gastroenterologists, consultant biochemists and biomedical scientists to hear presentations from leaders in this field.

New guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) was released on the 2nd October regarding the use of Faecal Calprotectin as a diagnostics test for inflammatory diseases of the bowel. It advises doctors to use simple stool tests as an option to distinguish between potentially serious inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and

We are now taking bookings for this year’s Diagnostics for Digestive Health Seminar. The event takes place on 17 October 2013 at the Academy of Medical Sciences, Portland Place, London. The draft agenda is below, and the event is worth 7 IBMS CPD points and 6 RcPath CPD points.

Two new reports out this month detail new guidelines for the diagnosis and management of IBS and IBD in Primary Care. Traditionally, making a diagnosis of IBS or IBD has been difficult and frustrating both for patients and clinicians due to the similarities in clinical symptoms. Correct diagnosis is important however as management and treatment

Those laboratories initially using a lower throughput system for calprotectin measurement,such as the BÜHLMANN Quantum Blue kit, may find they need to transfer to a more cost and time-effective automated, higher-throughput system. When deciding which higher-throughput assay to use, it is important to consider:

Traditionally, the treatment aim in patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) has been clinical remission evaluated by clinical indices, especially among patients with symptoms of predominantly inflammatory origin1. However, the correlation between such indices and the degree of inflammation has been questioned and Saverymuttu et al2 showed low correlation between the Crohn Disease Activity Index