Assessment of Non-invasive Tools for Detecting Active Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Launched by JEAN-FRANÇOIS BEAULIEU · Dec 3, 2024

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This study is testing whether stool proteins can help doctors diagnose and monitor inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, without needing invasive tests like colonoscopy. Researchers will measure proteins in stool and compare them with standard tests (symptoms, colonoscopy results, tissue biopsies, and fecal calprotectin) to see if a stool-based test can tell when the disease is active or in remission and help distinguish Crohn’s from ulcerative colitis. The study will enroll about 120 adults and is being conducted at Université de Sherbrooke in Sherbrooke, Canada, using a non-invasive approach that runs alongside routine care.

To join, you would need to be 18 or older, have Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, and be under a gastroenterologist’s care who has you scheduled for a calprotectin test and a colonoscopy as part of your usual follow-up. You’ll be asked to provide an extra stool sample for the study, in addition to your standard tests. This is an observational study, meaning no experimental treatment will be given. The stool test is being studied as a potential support tool to regularly monitor disease activity and assist in management, not as a replacement for standard care. If you participate, your sample analysis will be compared with your standard test results, and the study will follow data collection for up to about 15 months.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Be affected with one of the two main inflammatory bowel diseases (Crohn's disease of ulcerative colitis).
• • Be invited to participate on the base of a routine follow up by their gastroenterologist.
• • Be scheduled for a calprotectin test and a colonoscopy.
• • Accept to participate and provide an extra stool sample for analysis.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Having no history of inflammatory bowel disease.
• • Be affected with an history of gastrointestinal disease other than Crohn disease or ulcerative colitis.