Monitoring Inflammatory Bowel Disease with Serum Marker LRG

Monitoring inflammatory responses with serum marker LRG

Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) are chronic conditions characterized by inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. The main types are Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Crohn’s can affect any part of the digestive tract and involves all layers of the intestinal wall, while ulcerative colitis primarily affects the colon and rectum’s inner lining. Symptoms often include abdominal pain, diarrhea, weight loss, and fatigue. The exact cause is unknown, but it involves an abnormal immune response, genetics, and environmental factors. IBD is a long-term condition that requires ongoing management to reduce inflammation and control symptoms (1-3).

Reliable biomarkers for monitoring inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) continue to be an unmet clinical need, especially in patients undergoing biologic therapies where C-reactive protein (CRP) responses may be diminished. Leucine-rich alpha-2 glycoprotein (LRG) is a new acute-phase reactant regulated by various cytokines, potentially less reliant on interleukin-6 compared to CRP (4).

Monitoring Inflammatory Bowel Disease with Serum Marker LRG

A systematic review and meta-analysis indicated that LRG may be a valuable marker for assessing IBD activity. It appears to be particularly effective in detecting disease activity in patients with normal CRP levels. Additionally, LRG demonstrated greater accuracy in monitoring disease activity in patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) compared to those with other forms of IBD (5).

Discover BIOMEDICA´s Leucine-rich alpha-2-glycoprotein (LRG1) ELISA | cat. no. BI-LRG

• RELIABLE – full validation package 
• CONVENIENT – comes with 7 calibrators, 2 controls, and ample buffers included (protocol booklet)
• REFERENCE values for normal and pathological samples
• OPTIMIZED assay range – no additional dilution and testing required
• EASY – results in 3 h, all reagents included

Example of a typcial Biomedica ELISA assay kit

Monitoring Inflammatory Bowel Disease with Serum Marker LRG

 

 

Therapeutic potential of Lactobacillus plantarum HBUAS68394 in mitigating DSS-induced colitis. Yousef  F, Hussein M, Taha R, Mwaheb M.  EJBO. 2025. DOI: 10.21608/ejbo.2025.363646.3211.

The study explored how the probiotic strain Lactobacillus plantarum HBUAS68394 can help reduce inflammation and promote healing in models of colitis, a common form of inflammatory bowel disease. The findings suggest that Lactobacillus plantarum HBUAS68394 may offer a promising, natural approach to managing colitis symptoms and restoring gut health. The study also successfully utilized our LRG ELISA to monitor inflammatory responses.

 

Literature

1. Medical management of inflammatory bowel diseases. Hashash JG, Limdi JK, Shapiro JM, Shah SA. BMJ. 2025 Dec 19;391:e079050. doi: 10.1136/bmj-2025-079050. PMID: 41419296.
2. Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Bruner LP, White AM, Proksell S. Prim Care. 2023 Sep;50(3):411-427. doi: 10.1016/j.pop.2023.03.009. Epub 2023 May 10. PMID: 37516511.
3. Monitoring Inflammatory Bowel Disease Activity: When, How, and Why. Gaidos JKJ, Hashash JG. Am J Gastroenterol. 2025 Jun 9;120(8):1732-1741. doi: 10.14309/ajg.0000000000003582. PMID: 40488637.           
4. A Role for Leucine-Rich α2-Glycoprotein in Leukocyte Trafficking and Mucosal Inflammation in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Mishima T, Fujimoto M, Urushima H, Funajima E, Suzuki Y, Ohkawara T, Murata O, Serada S, Naka T. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2025 Jun 13;31(6):1637-1648. doi: 10.1093/ibd/izaf022. Erratum in: Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2025 Oct 1;31(10):2952. doi: 10.1093/ibd/izaf198. PMID: 39918378.
5. The usefulness of serum leucine-rich alpha-2 glycoprotein as a novel biomarker in monitoring inflammatory bowel disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Ojaghi Shirmard F, Pourfaraji SM, Saeedian B, Bagheri T, Ismaiel A, Matsumoto S, Babajani N. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2025 Aug 1;37(8):891-904. doi: 10.1097/MEG.0000000000002952. Epub 2025 Feb 18. PMID: 39976047.
6. Microbiota in inflammatory bowel disease: mechanisms of disease and therapeutic opportunities. Iliev ID, Ananthakrishnan AN, Guo CJ. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2025 Aug;23(8):509-524. doi: 10.1038/s41579-025-01163-0. Epub 2025 Mar 10. Erratum in: Nat Rev Microbiol. 2025 Aug;23(8):541. doi: 10.1038/s41579-025-01175-w. PMID: 40065181; PMCID: PMC12289240