Preliminary evaluation of the role of faecal calprotectin in the diagnosis of ulcerative colitis among Egyptian patients

Calprotectin, a member of the Ca2+-binding S100 family of proteins, makes up about 5% of the total protein content of the neutrophil. It is released upon activation and degranulation of neutrophils and correlates strongly with 111-indium-labeled leukocyte excretion. It was investigated as a promising tool in differentiating between Irritable Bowel syndrome [IBS] and active Inflammatory Bowel Disease [IBD]. Is to compare faecal Calprotectin in patients known to have ulcerative colitis with normal healthy controls and to investigate possible correlation of Calprotectin with disease activity on clinical, laboratory and pathological bases. Forty patients known to have UC were assessed. 19 were excluded: 10 due to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory [NSAID] intake, 2 due to pregnancy and 7 due to disease quiescence. So, 21 patients with active disease were studied, 7 males [33.3%] and 14 females [66.7%], mean age 37.5 [ +/- 16.0] years. Ten healthy controls [8 females and 2 males], mean age 30.9 [ +/- 16.1] years were included. Patients underwent clinical evaluation, determination of blood Erythrocyte sedimentation rate [ESR], C-reactive protein [CRP] and faecal Calprotectin. Colonoscopy was done to confirm diagnosis, estimate disease extent and obtain colonoscopic biopsy specimens for histological grading of activity. An overall scoring of disease activity was done using the Mayo score. Faecal Calprotectin was significantly elevated among patients [mean: 12.6 micro gm/gm stools [ +/- 3.2] in comparison to controls [9.4 micro gm/gm stools [ +/- 2.6], [p 0.01]. At a cut off of l0.3micro gm/gm stools it has a sensitivity of 86%.specificity of 70% p=0.004, positive predictive value of 86% and a negative predictive value of 70%. No correlation was found between faecal Calprotectin and ESR, histopathology and Mayo score. Calprotectin was significantly higher in cases with left sided colitis [l4.1 +/- 2.71gm/gm stools] than those with pnco1itis [11.8 +/- l.9 micro gm/gm stools], p 0.02.Faecal Calprotectin is a good test in differentiating Egyptian patients with ulcerative colitis from healthy controls. Thus, its use as a screening test may be helpful in the selection of cases for endoscopic examination. It lacks specific correlation with the severity of ulcerative colitis. This leaves endoscopy and histopathologic examinations as the main diagnostic tools. Larger scale studies on Egyptian patients are strongly recommended with special reference to the local mucosal permeability and immune milieu of the Egyptian population

Assessment of the methodological quality of reporting of randomized in four Iranian healthcare journals

To assess the quality of reporting randomized trials in four Iranian healthcare journals. Iran. Short survey. Four Iranian healthcare journals were handsearched for reports of randomized controlled trials classified using The Cochrane Collaboration eligibility criteria for studies for inclusion in systematic reviews. Quality of reporting of the trials was assessed independently by two authors [MN, AA] for four dimensions: randomized sequence generation, allocation sequence concealment, blinding of outcome assessment and intention to treat analysis. Any disagreements were resolved through discussion with a third author [ZF]. In total, reports of 75 randomized controlled trials reported in the four Iranian healthcare journals were assessed. Blinding was the best reported dimension [32%, 24/75] and intention to treat analysis the least [0% 0/75]. Sequence generation and allocation sequence concealment were infrequently reported [12%, 9/75 and 3%, 2/75 respectively]. There is room for improving the reporting of randomized trials in four Iranian healthcare journals. Authors and editors should be encouraged to follow guidance in the CONSORT Statement for improving the quality of reporting of parallel-group randomized trials [RCTs] and in the recent extension to CONSORT for reporting RCTs in abstracts in journals and conference proceedings

Identifying search terms likely to retrieve reports of randomized trials in Iranmedex - a polit project

Recent studies have led to improvements in the international coverage of reports of randomized controlled trials retrieved from electronic databases in developing countries. The objective of this study was to identify search terms likely to retrieve reports of randomized controlled trials in Iranmedex which could ultimately be developed into a sensitive search strategy for this database. The objective of this study was to identify a set of terms likely to retrieve reports of randomized controlled trials in Iranmedex, an Iranian healthcare database. We handsearched seven Iranian healthcare journals to identify reports of randomized controlled trials [RCTs] and quasi-randomized trials [CCTs] and examined the reports in three of these journals for study design terms and selected those occurring most frequently to compile an initial set of search terms. We then used these terms to search Iranmedex for reports of trials in the remaining four journals plus the initial three from which the search terms were derived and compared results with our original handsearch of these journals. The electronic records of any reports of trials missed by this initial set of terms were examined for additional relevant search terms which might improve retrieval. In the first set of journals handsearched we identified six study design terms which occurred most frequently in the relevant studies: clinical trial, double blind, randomly, prospective, placebo. Improvements to the initial set of search terms could be made by adding the study design term ['cross over']. Electronic searches would be more efficient and effective if authors and editors were consistently to abide by the guidance provided in The CONSORT Statement. The possibility for researchers to search the full text electronically in Iranmedex would greatly improve retrieval as relevant study design terms were frequently only to be found in the full text of many of the journals indexed in Iranmedex