Calprotectin Assays
Calprotectin is the best marker for IBD. It is an established measure to discriminate IBD from IBS and a very valuable tool to monitor the disease course of IBD patients (Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis). The technology platforms offered by BÜHLMANN range from the gold standard ELISA assay, BUHLMANN fCAL®, to the POC test, Quantum Blue®, to the new IBDoc® home test and to the automated random access BÜHLMANN fCAL® turbo assay. With this portfolio all possible applications for measuring calprotectin are covered from the patient’s home test to the high throughput lab.
The BÜHLMANN fecal Calprotectin Assays – A unique Success Story
BÜHLMANN has launched its first assay for fecal calprotectin testing more than 10 years ago and is today considered as the gold-standard. We cover the broadest product range in the market offering from the gold-standard fCAL ELISA, to the Quantum Blue® rapid test, to the home test IBDoc® and to the automated, random-access BÜHLMANN fCAL® turbo a solution for every need. The BÜHLMANN calprotectin assays appear in more than 50 clinical publications thereby demonstrating the reliability and the quality in diagnosis and monitoring of IBD.
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Calprotectin – Differentiating IBD from non-inflammatory Diseases
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) affects approximately 2 million people in Europe and shows increasing prevalence all over the world. Crohn’s Disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC) are incurable serious chronic diseases of the intestinal tract. Symptoms of IBD strongly resemble those of non-inflammatory diseases such as the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), polyps or even gastrointestinal infections. Calprotectin has proven itself as a very good surrogate marker in the diagnosis of IBD and helps therefore to reliably select patients for further invasive diagnostic procedures.
Suggested algorithm for the diagnostic procedure using calprotectin as surrogate marker for intestinal inflammation in IBD. Calprotectin values below 50 µg/g are not indicative for an active inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract. Calprotectin values of 50 – 200 µg/g can represent mild organic disease such as inflammation caused by NSAIDs, mild diverticulitis and IBD in remission phase. Values above 200 µg/g are highly indicative for active inflammation in the gut.
Calprotectin – Monitoring IBD Disease Activity
The clinical course of most patients with IBD is marked by periods of remission with intermittent relapses characterized by increased intestinal inflammation. Numerous published studies by Tibble et al. and others, have studied the levels of calprotectin in patients during the course of the disease. The results show that calprotectin is a good predictor of relapse in patients with IBD, thus giving clinicians an effective tool to adapt the patients treatment accordingly and to ease the relapse severity.
Calprotectin Product Information
| Name | BÜHLMANN fCAL® ELISA | BÜHLMANN fCAL® turbo | Quantum Blue® fCAL |
| Method | ELISA | Immuno turbidimetric | Lateral Flow |
| Time to Result | 2 h (approx.) | 10 min (approx.) | 15 min (approx.) |
| Sample Type | 50-150 µl feces extract | less than 1 g | 60-80 µl feces extract |
| Standard Range | 10-600 µg/g / 30-1800 µg/g | 0-2000 µg/g | 30-300 µg/g / 100-1800 µg/g / 30 -1000 µg/g |
| Sensitivity (LoQ) | 10 µg/g | 22 µg/g | <30 µg/g / <100 µg / <30 µg/g |
| Order Code | EK-CAL 96 wells | B-KCAL-RSET, B-KCAL-CASET, B-KCAL-CONSET | LF-CAL25 / LF-CHR25 / LF-CALE25 (25 tests each) |
| CE | CE | CE |
Calprotectin – Stool Extraction with CALEX®
BÜHLMANN Laboratories is not only leader in unique diagnostic assays for calprotectin, but has also the most innovative stool extraction device demonstrating the importance of pre-analytics in calprotectin measurement. The CALEX® offers simple and hygienic stool sampling and is pre-filled with the BÜHLMANN extraction buffer. Check out our main page for stool extraction now
