Gut inflammation is associated with structural spinal damage in axial spondyloarthritis - results from the observational SPARTAKUS cohort.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), 5-10% of patients have comorbid inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Beyond that, 50-60% display histologic inflammation in ileum/colon biopsies, and fecal calprotectin (F-calprotectin) is elevated in relation to healthy controls. Prior studies have shown such, often subclinical, gut inflammation in axSpA to be associated with more active disease, as measured by clinical indices as well as magnetic resonance imaging - both known risk factors for structural spinal damage development. In light of this, in the current study we aimed to examine whether gut inflammation, assessed by F-calprotectin, is associated with more structural spinal damage in axSpA.

Methods

Patients with well-characterized non-radiographic or radiographic axSpA (

SUBMITTER: Wallman JK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12539032 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature