Diagnosis biomarkers in acute intestinal ischemic injury: so close, yet so far

Acute intestinal ischemic injury (i3) is a life-threatening condition with disastrous prognosis, which is currently difficult to diagnose at the early stages of the disease; a rapid diagnosis is mandatory to avoid irreversible ischemia, extensive bowel resection, sepsis and death. The overlapping protein expression of liver and gut related to the complex physiopathology of the disease, the heterogeneity of the disease and its relative rarity could explain the lack of a useful early biochemical marker of i3. Apart from non-specific biological markers of thrombosis, hypoxia inflammation, and infection, several more specific biomarkers in relation with the gut barrier dysfunction, the villi injury and the enterocyte mass have been used in the diagnosis of acute i3. It includes particularly D-lactate, intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (FABP) and citrulline. Herein, we will discuss leading publications concerning these historical markers that point out the main limitations reagrding their use in routine clinical practice. We will also introduce the first and limited results arising from omic studies, underlying the remaining effort that needs to be done in the field of acute i3 biological diagnosis, which remains a challenge.