Use of Laboratory Tests for Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are characterized as chronic idiopathic inflammatory conditions affecting the gastrointestinal tract. Laboratory studies are valuable adjuncts to clinical assessment of disease activity. The goal of treatment of IBD is to resolve all active inflammation. Traditionally, clinicians gauge whether patients have active inflammation by the presence of symptoms and radiologic findings. Identifying the specific inflammatory pathways that drive IBD should allow for measurement of specific cytokines, immune cell surface markers, or downstream metabolites to quantify disease activity involving those pathways. Iron deficiency is the most common etiology of anemia in IBD patients. It happens due to chronic blood loss through the gastrointestinal tract in the setting of active inflammation or due to sequestration of iron stores in the reticuloendothelial system (anemia of chronic disease). Folic acid is an essential vitamin generated by gut microbiota and obtained in the diet.