Wildt S, Nordgaard–Lassen I, Bendtsen F et al.
University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol 2007;19:567–74.
Editor’s note: Collagenous colitis (CC) is characterized by watery diarrhea, normal mucosal appearances at colonoscopy, and microscopic changes on biopsy including the presence of a subepithelial collagen band, and lymphocytic and leukocytic infiltrates. Symptoms often respond rapidly to treatment with the enterically active corticosteroid budesonide, although the condition is distinct to idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease and infectious colitis. The authors of the current study examined the fecal excretion of the inflammatory proteins calprotectin and lactoferrin, which are derived from leukocytes, and the excretion of short-chain fatty acids, which reflect fermentative action by colonic bacteria, in symptomatic and quiescent CC.