Tianjin Medical Journal ›› 2026, Vol. 54 ›› Issue (1): 78-83.doi: 10.11958/20252176

• Clinical Research • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Study of serum copper/zinc ratio and lactate/albumin ratio combined with fecal calprotectin in evaluating the condition and treatment outcome of ulcerative colitis

LIN Xinxing1(), JIANG Yanhong2, HU Shunming3, WANG Jialiang1, LIU Chenlu1, XU Su4,()   

  1. 1 Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Dafeng People's Hospital, Yancheng 224100 China
    2 Department of Carcinoma Traditional Chinese Medicine, Dafeng People's Hospital, Yancheng 224100 China
    3 Department of Gastroenterology, Dafeng People's Hospital, Yancheng 224100 China
    4 Department of Anorectal Surgery, Yancheng TCM Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine
  • Received:2025-05-29 Revised:2025-10-17 Published:2026-01-15 Online:2026-01-19
  • Contact: E-mail:xstcm81@yeah.net

Abstract:

Objective To explore the value of serum copper/zinc ratio and lactate (LA)/albumin (ALB) ratio (LAR) combined with fecal calprotectin (FC) in evaluating the condition and treatment outcome of ulcerative colitis (UC). Methods A total of 154 patients with active UC were selected and divided into the mild activity group (45 cases), the moderate activity group (61 cases) and the severe activity group (48 cases) according to their disease condition. Based on the treatment outcome, patients were divided into the improved group (106 cases) and the unimproved group (48 cases). Laboratory indices such as serum copper/zinc ratio, LAR and FC were compared between groups. The relationship between these indices and the condition and treatment outcome of patients with UC was analyzed. Results Serum copper/zinc ratio, LAR and FC levels increased in sequence in the mild activity group, the moderate activity group and the severe activity group (P<0.05). Compared with the mild activity group, serum prealbumin level was lower in the severe activity group (P<0.05). Compared with the improved group, the unimproved group demonstrated higher serum copper/zinc ratio, LAR and FC levels (P<0.05). Spearman correlation analysis showed that serum copper/zinc ratio, LAR and FC levels were positively correlated with UCEIS score in patients with UC (P<0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that increased serum copper/zinc ratio, LAR and FC levels were risk factors for aggravation and unimproved treatment outcomes of UC (P<0.05). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that the areas under the curve (AUCs) of combination of serum copper/zinc ratio, LAR and FC in predicting aggravation and no improvement of UC were 0.949 (95%CI: 0.902-0.978) and 0.936 (95%CI: 0.885-0.969), respectively. Conclusion Serum copper/zinc ratio, LAR and FC can serve as reliable biomarkers for predicting the condition and treatment outcome of UC. Combined use of these indices can achieve better predictive efficacy.

Key words: colitis, ulcerative, copper, zinc, leukocyte L1 antigen complex, lactic acid, serum albumin, fecal calprotectin

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