Assessment of disease activity in inflammatory bowel diseases: Non-invasive biomarkers and endoscopic scores

Figure 1 Endoscopic parameters of lesion evaluation in ulcerative colitis endoscopic scores. A: Total lesion surface area; B: Total ulcer surface area; C: Depth of ulcers.

Figure 2 Ulcerative colitis endoscopic findings. A: Erythema; B: Erosions and granularity; C: Mucopurulent exudate; D: Ulcers.

Figure 3 Prospect of the future usefulness of transcriptional biomarkers in the monitoring of activity and treatment efficacy in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases. OMICS analysis includes transcriptomics, genomics, metabolomics, lipidomics, and epigenomics studies. Fecal biomarkers of disease activity such as calprotectin and lactoferrin are already available in current clinical practice. Moreover, serological exams, such as C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and platelet count, are commonly used to assess disease activity, despite being nonspecific. IBD: Inflammatory bowel diseases.