Serum Intestinal Fatty Acid Binding Protein in Patients with Small Bowel Obstruction

Abstract

Purpose: The aims of this pilot study were to reveal the biologicalcharacteristics of serum I-FABP and explore its clinical utility as a biomarkerin patients with small bowel obstruction (SBO). Methods: Serum I-FABP levels were measured in 37 consecutivepatients with SBO between 2007 and 2008. Serum I-FABP levels were comparedbetween ischemia (n = 10) and non-ischemia (n = 27) groups. Serum I-FABP levelswere longitudinally analyzed in 21 patients who showed high (>2.0 ng/ml)serum I-FABP levels. The relationship between serum I-FABP level and length ofdamaged bowel was also analyzed. Results: Median serum I-FABP levels were 9.2 ng/ml in the ischemia group and 1.9 ng/mlin the non-ischemia group (p － 7.660, r= 0.604, p = 0.0018). By setting thecutoff level at 7.2 ng/ml, the diagnostic ability of serum I-FABP was 70.0% interms of sensitivity, 92.6% in terms of specificity, and 86.5% in terms ofaccuracy. Conclusion: Serum I-FABPsensitively reflects bowel damage in SBO patients and seems to be a potentialbiomarker for detecting small-bowel ischemia.