Intestinal-type and liver-type fatty acid-binding protein in the intestine. Tissue distribution and clinical utility

• Published in: Clinical biochemistry 2003-10, Vol.36 (7), p.529-535
• Main Authors: Pelsers, Maurice M.A.L, Namiot, Zbigniew, Kisielewski, Wojciech, Namiot, Andrzej, Januszkiewicz, Marcin, Hermens, Wim T, Glatz, Jan F.C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Carrier Proteins - analysis; Carrier Proteins - blood; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Fatty Acid-Binding Protein 7; Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins; Female; H-FABP; Health; Humans; I-FABP; Ileus; Intestinal Diseases - diagnosis; Intestinal Diseases - metabolism; Intestinal Diseases - surgery; Intestinal injury; Intestinal tissue content; Intestines - chemistry; Intestines - injuries; Intestines - pathology; Intestines - surgery; L-FABP; Liver - chemistry; Male; Mesenteric infarction; Middle Aged; Reference range; Reference Values; Sex Characteristics; Time Factors; Tumor Suppressor Proteins
• ISSN: 0009-9120; 1873-2933
• DOI: 10.1016/S0009-9120(03)00096-1

Intestinal-type fatty acid-binding protein (I-FABP) has been proposed as plasma marker for the detection of acute intestinal injury. However, intestinal mucosa also expresses liver-type FABP (L-FABP). We have investigated the tissue distribution of I-FABP and L-FABP in segments of the human intestine along the duodenal to colonal axis and the potential of both proteins to serve as plasma marker for the diagnosis of intestinal injury. I-FABP and L-FABP were measured with specific immunoassays in autopsy samples of the intestine (duodenum, jejunum, ileum and colon) of 23 subjects and in plasma samples from patients ( n = 51) with intestinal and/or hepatic disease. Plasma reference values were established in normal healthy individuals ( n = 92). The I-FABP tissue contents in duodenum, jejunum, ileum, proximal colon and distal colon amounted to 2.22, 4.79, 1.04, 0.27 and 0.25 μg/g ww, respectively. L-FABP tissue contents were markedly higher, amounting to 124 and 198 μg/g ww in duodenum and jejunum, and to 58, 26 and 44 μg/g ww in ileum, proximal colon and distal colon, respectively. Elevated plasma levels of both I-FABP and L-FABP were found in patients suffering from intestinal diseases, while only L-FABP was increased in cases of purely hepatocellular injury. I-FABP and L-FABP show a similar pattern of tissue distribution along the duodenal to colonal axis with highest tissue contents found in the jejunum but in each intestinal segment a >40-fold higher content of L-FABP than of I-FABP. Accordingly, besides I-FABP, also L-FABP is a useful plasma marker for the detection of intestinal injury, especially in patients undergoing intestinal surgery.