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World J Gastroenterol. Jan 7, 2027; 33(1): 125539
Published online Jan 7, 2027. doi: 10.3748/wjg.125539
Published online Jan 7, 2027. doi: 10.3748/wjg.125539
Leucine-rich alpha-2 glycoprotein reflects transmural inflammation assessed by through-the-scope endoscopic ultrasonography: A prospective study in small-bowel Crohn’s disease
Yuan-Yuan Fang, Min Wang, Meng-Qi Huang, Ling-Yun Li, Cheng-Cheng Tian, Wei Han, Juan Wu, Pei-Pei Zhang, Qiu-Yuan Liu, Qiao Mei, Jing Hu, Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, Anhui Province, China
Co-first authors: Yuan-Yuan Fang and Min Wang.
Co-corresponding authors: Qiao Mei and Jing Hu.
Author contributions: Fang YY and Wang M contribute equally to this study as co-first authors; Mei Q and Hu J contribute equally to this study as co-corresponding authors; Fang YY, Wang M, Mei Q and Hu J designed the research study; Fang YY, Wang M, Huang MQ, Li LY, Tian CC, Han W, Wu J, Zhang PP and Liu QY performed the research; Fang YY and Wang M conducted the data analysis and manuscript preparation; Huang MQ, Li LY, Tian CC, Han W, Wu J, Zhang PP and Liu QY contributed to data collection and analysis; Mei Q and Hu J provided research guidance; Fang YY, Wang M, Mei Q and Hu J revised the manuscript; Hu J acquired funding; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
AI contribution statement: Portions of this manuscript were edited using AI tools solely for language refinement. The authors carefully reviewed and verified all AI-assisted outputs and take full responsibility for the scientific content of the manuscript.
Supported by the Research Fund of Anhui Institute of Translational Medicine, No. 2023zhyx-C35.
Institutional review board statement: This investigation was approved by the Clinical Medical Research Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University (Approval No. 5101116, dated 1 March 2021).
Clinical trial registration statement: As this was a prospective observational study involving no intervention or assignment of treatments, clinical trial registration was not applicable.
Informed consent statement: Participants gave informed consent to participate in the study before taking part.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
CONSORT 2010 statement: The authors have read the CONSORT 2010 Statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CONSORT 2010 Statement.
Data sharing statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.
Corresponding author: Jing Hu, PhD, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, No. 218 Jixi Road, Hefei 230022, Anhui Province, China. yfy114801@fy.ahmu.edu.cn
Received: July 10, 2026
Revised: August 21, 2026
Accepted: October 16, 2026
Published online: January 7, 2027
Processing time: 122 Days and 15.6 Hours
Revised: August 21, 2026
Accepted: October 16, 2026
Published online: January 7, 2027
Processing time: 122 Days and 15.6 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This prospective study investigated the association between serum leucine-rich alpha-2 glycoprotein (LRG) levels and transmural inflammatory activity in patients with isolated small-bowel Crohn’s disease (CD) using endoscopic ultrasonography during double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE-EUS). Serum LRG levels were strongly correlated with DBE-EUS-derived measures of transmural inflammation and demonstrated diagnostic performance comparable to fecal calprotectin and superior to C-reactive protein. Elevated LRG levels were also associated with an increased risk of CD-related rehospitalization, supporting LRG as a promising noninvasive biomarker for evaluating transmural disease activity in small-bowel CD.