The Differential Diagnosis of Crohn’s Disease and Celiac Disease Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Crohn’s disease and celiac disease belong to a group of autoimmune conditions that affect the digestive system, specifically the small intestine. They both attack the digestive tract and share many symptoms. Thus, the discovery of proper methods would be a major step toward differentiating celiac disease from Crohn’s disease. The aim of this study was to search for the metabolic biomarkers to differentiate between these two diseases. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1 H NMR) was employed as the metabolic profiling method to look for serum metabolites that differentiate between celiac disease and Crohn’s disease. Classification of celiac disease and Crohn’s disease was done using random forest (RF). Based on RF results, Crohn’s disease and celiac disease groups could be classified separately, using just two descriptors. The classification model showed 93 % correct classification of Crohn’s disease and celiac disease subjects for the external test set. Based on feature importance of variables, isoleucine and lactate were selected. The findings of the present study reveal differentiating metabolites for Crohn’s disease and celiac disease. These metabolites may provide diagnostic biomarkers and/or monitoring tools as well as insight into potential targets for prevention and disease therapy.