Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Gastroenterol. Oct 14, 2026; 32(38): 121569
Published online Oct 14, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.121569
Published online Oct 14, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.121569
Red cell distribution width as a biomarker of disease activity in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease
Yunus H Polat, Başak Çakal, Salim Tece, Department of Gastroenterology, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara 06370, Türkiye
Ilhami Yuksel, Department of Gastroenterology, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University, Ankara 06800, Türkiye
Author contributions: Polat YH contributed to study conception and design, data acquisition, statistical interpretation, manuscript drafting; Çakal B contributed to data collection, clinical interpretation, manuscript revision; Tece S contributed to data collection, literature review, critical revision of the manuscript; Yüksel I contributed to study conception and design, data acquisition, statistical interpretation, manuscript revision; and all authors read and approved the final manuscript and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
AI contribution statement: During the preparation of this manuscript, artificial intelligence-based language tools were used solely for language editing and grammatical improvement. All scientific content, study design, data analysis, interpretation, and final manuscript approval were performed and verified by the authors. AI-based language tools were used during the preparation of the “121569-answering-reviewers” document for language editing and grammatical improvement purposes only. All responses to the reviewers were scientifically prepared, reviewed, and approved by the authors.
Institutional review board statement: This retrospective, single-center cohort study was conducted at the Gastroenterology Department of Ankara Training and Research Hospital after obtaining approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee (Decision No: E-25/735).
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was waived due to the retrospective nature of the study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—a checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-a checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Corresponding author: Yunus H Polat, MD, Associate Faculty, Department of Gastroen
Received: March 27, 2026
Revised: April 17, 2026
Accepted: May 13, 2026
Published online: October 14, 2026
Processing time: 162 Days and 20.6 Hours
Revised: April 17, 2026
Accepted: May 13, 2026
Published online: October 14, 2026
Processing time: 162 Days and 20.6 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Red cell distribution width (RDW) is an inexpensive and widely available parameter reflecting systemic inflammation. In this study, RDW-coefficient of variation was significantly associated with disease activity in ulcerative colitis, suggesting its potential as a supportive biomarker in clinical practice. However, its utility in Crohn’s disease appears limited.