Calprotectin is a lab test that may be included on stool tests and I’ve seen a lot of misinformation about what calprotectin does and does not mean about what is going on in your colon. So, I’m making this video to clarify several things and make sure that you, my friend, know at least as much, and possibly more, than your doctor does about calprotectin.

I’ve been testing calprotectin levels in thousands of my patients for well over a decade, and I’d like you to know what calprotectin can tell you and what it cannot tell you.

What is Calprotectin?

Calprotectin is a protein that is expressed by various cells in the body. Many of the cells that express calprotectin are cells that are part of your immune system, and therefore calprotectin is considered an inflammatory marker, because these immune cells are involved in inflammation.

If you’ve read anything about calprotectin, you’ve probably been given the impression that it is associated with IBD, or inflammatory bowel disease. And that it can help to differentiate between IBD, and IBS, or irritable bowel syndrome.

However, if you know anything about me and my videos, you know that I like to give you the full story, and that nothing is as simple as it seems.

Does Calprotectin Help Separate IBD and IBS?

First, unlike other sources, I’d like to tell that it’s not a very good marker for differentiating between IBD and IBS. I’ve seen many IBS patient who had elevated calprotectin. And I know that they didn’t have IBD, because they had a colonoscopy and ruled out IBD. Which leads to a question.

Is calprotectin elevated in a lot more cases of IBD than IBS?  Yes, but you can’t diagnose them with it.

Calprotectin Is Not the Inflammatory Marker You Think It Is

Second, I want you to know that calprotectin is AN inflammatory marker. It’s not THE inflammatory marker. It’s not the ONLY possible way for inflammation to show up in the intestinal tract. Inflammation is super complicated, and there is no one marker, anywhere in the body, not just the intestinal tract, for inflammation. I wish that there were, but inflammation just isn’t that simple.

So, you can’t determine whether or not you have inflammation simply based on measuring calprotectin.

Do Other Cells Produce Calprotectin?

Third, it’s helpful to know that calprotectin is also produced by epithelial cells, not just inflammatory cells from the immune system. And epithelial cells are all over the body, and are also the cells that line your digestive tract. So, an elevated calprotectin number might not have much or anything to do with your immune system or inflammation.

What Does an Elevated Calprotectin Mean?

And finally, fourth, having an elevation in Calprotectin is not specific to any one condition. You can’t diagnose anything with it, you can only monitor calprotectin. So, if it’s elevated, you can watch it to see whether or not it decreases in response to your treatment. That has some value.  But other than that, calprotectin does not lead you to the cause of the problem.

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