Abdehagh M, Azimirad M, Houri H, et al. - In view of the major causative role of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) in morbidity among patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), researchers herein investigated if CDI could be detected in patients with the flare of IBD using measures of serum procalcitonin level.

• Among 120 enrolled patients with IBD, those with CDI had significantly increased median serum procalcitonin level relative to non-CDI IBD patients (0.69 ng/mL vs 0.32 ng/mL).

• A multivariable model including the covariates log₁₀ procalcitonin, age, hospitalization, type of IBD, duration of the disease, and antibiotic usage indicated a strong correlation of procalcitonin with CDI.

• Among IBD patients, there appeared an association of an elevated procalcitonin level with the presence of CDI.

• Overall, procalcitonin level appear to be a good candidate biomarker for detecting the CDI in IBD patients.