C-reactive protein/albumin ratio and IL-6 are associated with disease activity in patients with ulcerative colitis.

BACKGROUND

Cytokines are key mediators of the inflammation in ulcerative colitis (UC); there are inconsistent data on cytokines profile in patients with UC. C-reactive protein/albumin ratio (CRP/ALB) has also been found as an inflammatory indicator. However, the role of CRP/ALB in UC remains unclear. We aimed to evaluate the CRP/ALB ratio and cytokines profile in patients with UC. We further explore the association between CRP/ALB and inflammatory markers, such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), fecal calprotectin (FC) and cytokines.

METHODS

One hundred thirty UC patients and 65 controls were included in the study. Clinical and laboratory findings were retrospectively reviewed; differences in variables between two groups were examined using the Mann-Whitney U-test. The association between CRP/ALB, cytokines, and clinical parameters was determined by Spearman's correlation test.

RESULTS

CRP/ALB levels were significantly elevated in active UC patients. The optimal cutoff level of the CRP/ALB was 0.083. The patients with active UC had a median interleukin-6 (IL-6) level of 7.715 pg/ml (interquartile ranges, IQR 3.475-14.63), which was significantly higher than those in remission (2.95 pg/ml, IQR 2.17-5.44) (p < 0.001). Positive correlations between CRP/ALB and inflammatory markers were also observed.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that CRP/ALB and IL-6 could be potential biomarkers for assessment of clinical activity in Chinese patients with UC.