Stool Calprotectin Normal Range

[Serafin Sonnier]

Acalprotectin stool test measures a protein called calprotectin in a sample of your stool (poop). The test is also called a fecal calprotectin test. It's used to check for inflammation (swelling and irritation) in your intestines.

It's normal to have a small amount of calprotectin in your stool. But high levels are a sign that your intestines are inflamed. When you have inflammation in your intestines, your immune system sends certain types of white blood cells (neutrophils) to the inflamed area. These white blood cells release calprotectin into your intestines where it mixes with your stool.

Inflammation in your intestines can cause severe watery or bloody diarrhea with abdominal (belly) pain and/or cramping that last for more than a few days. Other types of digestive conditions can also cause these symptoms. If these symptoms last a long time or come and go, it's important to know if your intestines are inflamed. That's because inflammation can damage the lining of your intestines and lead to other serious health conditions over time.

A calprotectin test can find out whether your intestinal condition involves inflammation. But it can't diagnose the specific cause. Knowing whether your intestines are inflamed helps your health care provider decide what other tests you may need and what treatments are best for you.

Calprotectin stool testing is used to check for inflammation in the intestines. In most cases, providers use calprotectin stool testing to help tell the difference between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

IBD and IBS are both chronic (long-lasting) conditions that affect adults and children. They cause similar symptoms that can come and go, including diarrhea, belly pain, and cramps. But only IBD involves inflammation:

Depending on your symptoms and medical history, a calprotectin in stool test may be used with other stool tests that can help find the cause of long-lasting diarrhea. These include tests for fecal occult blood, bacteria in stool, parasites and eggs, and/or a white blood cell (WBC) in stool test.

Most watery diarrhea goes away on its own after a day or two, and your provider doesn't need to do tests. But if your symptoms don't improve after a few days or keep coming back, you may need a calprotectin stool test to check for inflammation in your intestines.

You will need to provide a stool sample for your test. Your provider will probably give you a container or kit with instructions on how to collect the sample. There are different ways to collect stool samples, so follow the instructions carefully. In general, you'll need to:

If you're collecting a sample from diapers, you'll get special instructions for using plastic wrap inside of a clean diaper. In certain cases, a provider may use a swab to take a stool sample from the rectum.

Ask your provider if you need to stop taking any medicines before your test. But never stop taking any medicine without talking with your provider first. Medicines that may affect your test results include certain over-the-counter medicines, including:

Normal or low levels of calprotectin usually mean that your intestines are not inflamed, which means you don't have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Your symptoms are probably caused by a type of non-inflammatory condition. Your provider may order other tests to figure out which condition is causing your symptoms.

High levels of calprotectin usually mean that your intestines are inflamed. The higher the amount of calprotectin in your stool, the more inflammation you have. If your calprotectin levels are high, your provider may retest you in a few weeks to see if they change.

If your calprotectin test results show that your intestines are inflamed, your provider may order a colonoscopy, which uses a tiny camera to look inside your intestines. This helps your provider learn whether IBD or another condition is causing the inflammation. But if your calprotectin test results show that your intestines probably aren't inflamed, a colonoscopy is unlikely to help make a diagnosis. In this way, a calprotectin stool test can help avoid unnecessary colonoscopies.

If your provider thinks you could have IBD, you may first have a blood test to check for inflammation. The blood test may be a C-reactive protein (CRP) test or an erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) test. But a calprotectin stool test is more accurate at finding inflammation in the intestines.

Beth lives in London and works as a freelance writer on a range of projects. Along with writing regular articles for Medical News Today, she writes for the Horniman Museum, an anthropology museum in South London. This involves recording minutes for conferences, blogging for their website, and documenting their process of curating art exhibitions. She loves theatre, yoga, and cycling in her spare time.

Dr. Joe Soliman is an ABMS board certified internal medicine physician. He is a gastroenterologist at City of Hope. Dr. Soliman is passionate about acquiring, organizing, and disseminating accurate medical knowledge.

Paul provides consultancy services to organisations who oversee or manage clinical research, including clinical trial set-up, ICH Good Clinical Practice oversight and project management, science communication, science writing and research training.

Paul is also dedicated to teaching English as a second language, with a particular focus on healthcare professionals and students. This unique combination of skills allows him to bridge the worlds of science, literature and language education.

If a person is experiencing symptoms that indicate an issue with the intestines, a calprotectin stool test can help doctors tell the difference between inflammatory and noninflammatory causes. Bacterial infections can cause inflammation, as can IBD.

A calprotectin stool test is noninvasive, and people only have to provide a stool sample. The laboratory will provide a clean container for the sample. There should be no urine or water present, as this could contaminate the sample.

Doctors may also use a calprotectin stool test for a person who has already received a diagnosis of IBD. They can use the test to check if their inflammation levels have decreased in order to find out if their treatment plan is working effectively.

The article also notes that, in some cases, a person may be able to carry out a calprotectin stool test at home. They can use a sampling device to extract the correct amount of sample for testing. They can then use an app on their smartphone to analyze the results.

A doctor may also use a calprotectin test if a person already has IBD. By showing levels of inflammation, the test can help the doctor monitor the condition, find out if treatment is working, or determine the severity of a flare.

Usually, a doctor will collect a stool sample from the person and send it away to a laboratory to test. Some doctors or laboratories may provide a person with instructions on how to collect the sample at home. The laboratory will also provide a clean container for the sample to prevent any potential contamination. The person must make sure that the stool sample does not contain any urine or water.

The doctor will then notify the person once they receive the results of the test. After interpreting the results, they may carry out further testing if the results show moderate-to-high levels of inflammation.

Moderate calprotectin levels, or levels that have increased from one test to the next, could be a sign of inflammation or the worsening of a condition. A doctor may choose to carry out further testing to investigate. This may take the form of endoscopy.

The results of a calprotectin stool test can help a doctor determine whether a person has an inflammatory or noninflammatory condition of the intestines. They may also use a calprotectin stool test to monitor an existing IBD diagnosis.

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This article explains what faecal calprotectin is, why you might want to know your faecal calprotectin level, and how you go about testing it. For a general introduction to faecal calprotectin, head over to Faecal Calprotectin Made Easy (2020).

What is a faecal calprotectin test?

What does a faecal calprotectin test actually test for?

Faecal calprotectin testing on the NHS

Faecal calprotectin test results

How much does a private FC test cost?

How long do faecal calprotectin test results take?

To take the test, you simply collect some of your stool (poo). This involves placing a tissue cover over your toilet bowel, and passing stools as normal. You then collect a small sample of your stools using a purposefully designed spoon and test tube, and post it off to a lab.

When there is inflammation in your intestines, white blood cells migrate to the affected area as part of the immune response. More inflammation = more white blood cells = more faecal calprotectin [4].

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