CerTest Calprotectin one step card test is a coloured chromatographic immunoassay for the semi-quantitative detection of human calprotectin (hCp) in stool samples that may reflect gastrointestinal inflammation caused by several pathologies (inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal cancer and some enteropathies).

CerTest Calprotectin card test offers a simple, a highly sensitivity and non-invasive screening assay to determine intestinal inflammatory activity, to monitor treatment response and to predict risk of relapse.

Calprotectin is a neutrophil cytosolic protein with antimicrobial properties, which is present at increased concentrat ion in stool samples during bowel inflammation.

The stability of the protein to degradation keeps it stable in faeces for up to 7 days at room temperature, making it an ideal analyte.

Calprotectin is released by activation of leukocytes, giving increased levels in plasma, cerebral spinal fluid, synovial fluid, urine or stools as a consequence of disease in the relevant organ(s). Calprotectin inhibits zinc-dependent enzyme systems, as a result kills microbes and induces apoptosis in normal and cancer cells. In the presence of calcium, calprotectin is remarkably resistant to protelolytic degradation and so is stable in stools kept at room temperature for 7 days.

This is a non-invasive marker of intestinal inflammation – for example in Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Crohn’s Disease (CD) -.