Parameter
| Biomarker | Fecal Lactoferrin (FLF) | Full name | Fecal Lactoferrin | Molecular Type | Protein (iron-binding glycoprotein) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Molecular Formula | Human lactoferrin: C₆₉₀H₁₁₁₂N₁８８O₂₀₀S₄ | Molecular Weight | ~80 kDa | Core Functional Dimensions | Monitoring of intestinal inflammatory activity, early warning of disease recurrence, and evaluation of therapeutic effect |
| Disease | Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) | Disease Subtypes | / | ||
| Organ | Intestine | Test Sample / Technology Platform | Stool (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, immunoturbidimetric assay, colloidal gold assay) | ||
| Pathobiological Mechanisms | Lactoferrin is mainly synthesized by the secondary granules of neutrophils, and a small amount is secreted by mammary gland and intestinal epithelial cells. Lactoferrin has the functions of antibacterial, regulating intestinal mucosal immunity and maintaining intestinal barrier function. When inflammatory injury occurs in the intestinal mucosa of IBD patients, neutrophils accumulate and degranulate in large quantities, releasing lactoferrin into the intestinal lumen and excreted with feces. The level of lactoferricin in feces is positively correlated with the degree of neutrophil infiltration in the intestinal mucosa and the extent of inflammatory damage. It can sensitively reflect the dynamic changes of intestinal inflammation, which increases in the active stage of the disease, decreases in the remission stage, and increases in the early stage before recurrence, which can warn of disease fluctuations in advance. | ||||
| Clinical Availability Status | It has been included in the consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of IBD as an important auxiliary indicator for the monitoring of intestinal inflammatory activity, especially in primary medical institutions or in the absence of complex detection equipment. Some guidelines combine it with fecal calprotectin for the management of IBD. | ||||
| Notes and Dynamics | Fecal lactoferrin has the advantages of fast detection speed (such as 15-30 minutes for colloidal gold method) and low operation threshold, which is suitable for rapid clinical assessment of intestinal inflammation, especially for the follow-up monitoring and recurrence warning of IBD patients. However, compared with fecal calprotectin, its stability is slightly worse (greatly affected by the storage conditions of fecal samples), and its sensitivity is slightly lower in mild inflammation, so it should be combined with clinical symptoms when used alone. In addition, intestinal infection, ischemic bowel disease, etc., may also lead to its increase, which needs to be identified. | ||||