Serum calprotectin - marker of systemic inflammation and disease activity

Poster at Autoimmunity 2026:

Serum Calprotectin in Pediatric Inflammation: A Cross-Disease Comparison

Systemic inflammation in children remains difficult to detect and monitor across autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases. Data presented at the 15th International Congress of Autoimmunity #AUTO2026 highlights the potential of serum calprotectin as a biomarker for identifying and monitoring disease activity in paediatric inflammatory conditions.

Serum calprotectin was measured using the GCAL^® turbidimetric assay from Gentian.

Comparing inflammatory activity across diseases

The prospective pilot study, “Serum Calprotectin in Pediatric Inflammation: A Cross-Disease Comparison,” included 228 children across seven groups, including:

• Systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA)
• Polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (pJIA)
• Childhood systemic lupus erythematosus (cSLE)
• IgA vasculitis (IgAV)
• Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
• IL‑1–mediated autoinflammatory diseases (AID)
• Healthy controls
  
  

Conclusion:
Clear differences between active disease and remission

Children with active disease showed higher calprotectin levels than those in remission or healthy controls, supporting the assay’s value as a marker of systemic inflammation and disease activity.

Supporting clinical decision-making in paediatrics

These findings highlight serum calprotectin as a potential biomarker for diagnosing and monitoring systemic inflammation in paediatric patients. By differentiating between active and inactive disease, serum calprotectin may help clinicians assess inflammatory burden more accurately, including in cases where traditional biomarkers such as C-reactive protein may be inconclusive.

Study team and authors

The data is from a study at University of Zagreb School of Medicine (Croatia), led by Prof. Marija Jelusic. The poster #892 will be presented on Sunday 17th May, by the Gentian Calprotectin Team, as a short oral presentation with a supporting digital poster at the conference.

Let’s bring circulating calprotectin to your lab

Interested in implementing the GCAL^® Calprotectin test in your laboratory, research or clinical practice? Our team is here to support you with clinical insights, technical guidance, and integration into your existing workflow.

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