GCAL® - plasma and serum calprotectin

GCAL® - Plasma and Serum Calprotectin Immunoassay

The Gentian Calprotectin Immunoassay (GCAL^®) is the first turbidimetric assay for the quantitative measurement of calprotectin in plasma and serum intended as an aid in the detection and assessment of inflammation. The open channel assay can be applied on a wide range of automated clinical chemistry analysers.

GCAL^® is CE-marked and now certified by TüV SÜD as complying with the European In-Vitro Diagnostic Regulation (IVDR), EU 2017/746

Technical details

• Technical Specification
• Assay Principle
• Calibrator Standardisation
• Products

Calprotectin in severe infections

Calprotectin is released in the first-line defence during infection and the calprotectin levels rise within only a few hours after infection³. This direct and fast response makes calprotectin an ideal biomarker for the inflammatory response to infections.

Calprotectin has been reported as diagnostic marker in the discrimination between bacterial and viral infection⁴, in assessment of severe infections and sepsis^5-7 and in the prediction for development of severe infections⁸. Interestingly, calprotectin has also been reported a risk marker in severe COVID-19^9,10, which in contrast to other viral infection induces a hyperinflammation response and pathways mimic bacterial sepsis¹¹.

Calprotectin in inflammatory conditions

Calprotectin is also a highly valuable biomarker for non-infectious inflammatory diseases, like rheumatic diseases¹². In rheumatoid arthritis (RA) blood calprotectin has been reported to correlated with the inflammation in the arthritic joints and disease severity¹³.

Diagnostic value for serum and plasma calprotectin has been appraised in the assessment of disease activity, including remission and relapse, and monitoring of treatment response^13,14. Importantly, even though calprotectin correlates with other routinely used inflammatory biomarkers C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), it is a superior biomarker since it also reliably detects inflammation activity, even in patients with normal CRP and ESR levels¹³.

References:

1. Pruenster M et al. S100A8/A9: From basic science to clinical application. Pharmacol Ther. 2016.
2. Chan JK et al. Alarmins: awaiting a clinical response. J Clin Invest. 2012.
3. Fullerton J et al. Kinetics of calprotectin, procalcitonin and C-reactive protein in healthy volunteers administered intravenous endotoxin. 40th International Symposium on Intensive Care & Emergency Medicine. Critical Care. 2020.
4. Havelka A et al. Calprotectin, a new biomarker for diagnosis of acute respiratory infections. Sci Rep. 2020.
5. Larsson A  et al. Calprotectin is superior to procalcitonin as a sepsis marker and predictor of 30-day mortality in intensive care patients. Scand J Clin Lab Invest. 2020.
6. Jonsson  et al. Calprotectin as an early biomarker of bacterial infections in critically ill patients: an exploratory cohort assessment. Crit Care Resusc. 2017.
7. Simm M et al. Performance of plasma calprotectin as a biomarker of early sepsis: a pilot study. Biomark Med. 2016.
8. Parke Å et al. Plasma-calprotectin compared with routine biomarkers for prediction of early severe event in sepsis. 40th International Symposium on Intensive Care & Emergency Medicine. Critical Care. 2020.
9. Bauer W et al. Outcome prediction by serum calprotectin in patients with COVID-19 in the emergency department. J Infect. 2021.
10. Luis García de Guadiana Romualdo et al. Circulating levels of GDF-15 and calprotectin for prediction of in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients: A case series. J Infect. 2021.
11. Vincent JL. COVID-19: it's all about sepsis. Future Microbiol. 2021.
12. Ometto F et al. Calprotectin in rheumatic diseases. Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2017.
13. Wang Q et al. The Role of Calprotectin in Rheumatoid Arthritis. J Transl Int Med. 2019.
14. Abildtrup M et al. Calprotectin as a biomarker for rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review. J Rheumatol. 2015.