Growth differentiation factor 15 - a new molecular target in inflammatory bowel disease: Progress and challenges

Table 1 Main clinical results of the recent studies

Ref.	Diagnosis	Number of patients (male/female)	Number of controls (male/female)	Disease status	Direction of GDF15 change	Circulating GDF15 level (pg/mL)
Yamamoto et al[22], 2022	Patients: CD with low skeletal muscle index. Controls: CD without low muscle index	33 (17/16)	45 (33/12)	In remission (CDAI: 97.6 ± 59.5 vs 93.4 ± 53.6)	↑	1511.0 ± 1646.3 vs 688.2 ± 575.3
Ramasamy et al[20], 2023	Patients: UC. Controls: Dyspepsia with no systemic inflammation	80 (48/32)	39 (23/16)	20/80 in remission (defined by Truelove-Witts criteria)	↑	576.515 (416.51-937.91) vs 520.14 (343.99-686.28)
Tonkic et al[18], 2024	Patients: IBD. Controls: Healthy volunteers	90 (53/37): CD 48, UC 42	67 (43/24)	CD in remission [CDAI: 55 (34-84)]; UC with mild disease [Mayo score: 3 (2-5)]	↑	800 (512-1154) vs 412 (407-424)
Kučerka et al[21], 2024	Patients: IBD. Controls: Individuals without any chronic inflammatory disease	100 (60/40)	50 (21/29)	In remission (defined as the resolution of abdominal pain and the resolution of altered bowel habits)	↑	751 (400-3406) vs 527 (400-1171)
Koureta et al[19], 2025	Patients: IBD. Controls: Healthy individuals	CD 122 (78/44)	44	In remission (HBI 2.1 ± 1.8)	↑	686.5 (655) vs 556 (271)
		UC 71 (46/25)	44	Mild [clinical Mayo score 3 (5)]	↑	807 (744) vs 556 (270)
Ruiz-Malagón et al[23], 2025	Patients: IBD. Controls: Healthy volunteers from the colon cancer screening program with non-pathological findings	CD 21 (10/11)	23 (12/11)	Not reported	↑	Levels of GDF15 in plasma from IBD patients were significantly increased compared to HC. When stratified, both CD and UC patients maintained significantly higher levels. Data was not reported
		UC 18 (7/11)	23 (12/11)	Not reported	↑

Crohn’s disease activity index range is divided in four categories which are: Remission (< 150), mild to moderate (150-220), moderate to severe (220-450), and severe (> 450). Mayo score: It is used to assess the severity of ulcerative colitis, a score of 0-2 indicates remission, 3-5 is mild, 6-10 is moderate, and 11-12 is severe activity. Harvey-Bradshaw index, remission is a score of 0-4, mild is 5-7, moderate is 8-16, and severe is > 16. CDF15: Growth differentiation factor 15; CD: Crohn’s disease; UC: Ulcerative colitis; IBD: Inflammatory bowel disease; CDAI: Crohn’s disease activity index; HBI: Harvey-Bradshaw index; HC: Healthy control.