Changes of leucine-rich alpha 2 glycoprotein could be a marker of changes of endoscopic and histologic activity of ulcerative colitis

Abstract Leucine-rich alpha 2 glycoprotein (LRG) is one of the promising serum biomarkers for disease activity of ulcerative colitis (UC). However, several previous reports suggested that the correlation of absolute values of LRG with endoscopic/histologic activity was superior to that of CRP but inferior to those of fecal markers. Here, we focused on the correlation between the changes of LRG and the changes of endoscopic and histologic activity of UC, in comparison to the changes of fecal calprotectin (Fcal), fecal immunochemical test (FIT), and C-reactive protein (CRP). Patients with UC who underwent two or more colonoscopies were enrolled. The comparison of the changes in marker levels with the change of endoscopic/histologic activity in 123 paired colonoscopies of 79 patients revealed that the strength of the correlation in LRG (r = 0.42/0.40) was almost similar to that of fecal markers (Fcal; r = 0.50/0.39 and FIT; r = 0.41/0.40) and better than that of CRP (r = 0.22/0.17). LRG is equivalent to fecal markers and superior to CRP, when inferring changes in disease activity of UC based on changes in its level.