Erol Sara, Tayman Cuneyt, Korkut Sabriye, Çakir Ufuk, Kurt Abdullah, Koyuncu Ismail
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara, Turkey; Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
J Pediatr (Rio J). 2025 Sep-Oct;101(5):101428. doi: 10.1016/j.jped.2025.101428. Epub 2025 Aug 21.
Necrotizing enterocolitis is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in premature infants. Various fecal, urinary, and serum biomarkers have all been investigated for their potential in the prediction and early detection of necrotizing enterocolitis. This pilot study aimed to explore the feasibility and clinical utility of measuring serum and fecal calprotectin levels in preterm infants with necrotizing enterocolitis.
This prospective pilot study included preterm infants born at < 32 weeks' gestation with a birth weight of ≤ 1500 g, consisting of patients diagnosed with necrotizing enterocolitis stage II or III and a randomly selected control group without necrotizing enterocolitis. The relationship between serum and fecal calprotectin concentrations and necrotizing enterocolitis severity, need for surgical intervention, and mortality was systematically analyzed.
A total of 39 necrotizing enterocolitis patients (25 with stage II, 14 with stage III) and 20 randomly selected preterm infants were included as the control group. Serum and fecal calprotectin levels were significantly higher in necrotizing enterocolitis stage III and in infants who required surgery or died (p < 0.05), indicating their potential to predict disease severity and poor outcomes.
This pilot study suggests that dual assessment of serum and fecal calprotectin may provide insight into necrotizing enterocolitis severity and outcomes. Larger studies are needed to validate these findings and determine clinical applicability.
This study was registered with the ClinicalTrials.gov database under the registration number NCT06693154 on November 15, 2024.
坏死性小肠结肠炎是早产儿发病和死亡的重要原因。人们对各种粪便、尿液和血清生物标志物在坏死性小肠结肠炎预测和早期检测方面的潜力进行了研究。这项初步研究旨在探讨检测坏死性小肠结肠炎早产儿血清和粪便钙卫蛋白水平的可行性和临床实用性。
这项前瞻性初步研究纳入了孕周小于32周、出生体重≤1500g的早产儿，包括诊断为II期或III期坏死性小肠结肠炎的患者以及随机选择的无坏死性小肠结肠炎的对照组。系统分析了血清和粪便钙卫蛋白浓度与坏死性小肠结肠炎严重程度、手术干预需求和死亡率之间的关系。
共纳入39例坏死性小肠结肠炎患者（25例II期，14例III期）和20例随机选择的早产儿作为对照组。坏死性小肠结肠炎III期以及需要手术或死亡的婴儿的血清和粪便钙卫蛋白水平显著更高（p<0.05），表明它们有预测疾病严重程度和不良结局的潜力。
这项初步研究表明，对血清和粪便钙卫蛋白进行双重评估可能有助于了解坏死性小肠结肠炎的严重程度和结局。需要更大规模的研究来验证这些发现并确定其临床适用性。
本研究于2024年11月15日在ClinicalTrials.gov数据库注册，注册号为NCT06693154。
