Serum N-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen as a biomarker for predicting bone density loss in patients with Crohn disease.

BackgroundThe serum N-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (NTx) is significantly higher in patients with Crohn disease (CD) than in healthy individuals and patients with ulcerative colitis. This study aimed to investigate whether an elevated serum NTx level is a risk predictor of osteoporosis in patients with CD.MethodsBased on whether the femoral Z-score decreased over a 2-year period, 41 CD patients were divided into the ΔZ-score ResultsAlthough there was no correlation between the mean CDAI and the ΔZ-score, the mean serum NTx and albumin levels were significantly correlated with the ΔZ-score (PConclusionsThese observations indicated that an elevated serum NTx could be a useful marker for predicting a decrease in the femoral bone mineral density in CD patients. Anti-TNF-α therapy maintained an elevated serum NTx level, suggesting that treatment with anti-TNF-α may help control increased bone resorption in CD patients.