June 02, 2018
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Iron supplements, vaccines in early life may reduce later IBD risk

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WASHINGTON — Oral iron supplementation during infancy and diphtheria and polio vaccination appeared to reduce the risk for developing inflammatory bowel disease later in life, according to a presenter here.

The investigators also found that smoking and antibiotic use during pregnancy appeared to increase the risk for Crohn’s disease in children, while breastfeeding appeared protective.

To study the role of prenatal, pregnancy- and infancy-related risk factors for IBD, Jukka Ronkainen, MD, PhD, of the University of Oulu in Finland, and colleagues evaluated longitudinal data on more than 12,000 mothers and their children from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort spanning back to 1966.

“[Our] hypothesis was that pregnancy period and first year of life family history, social relationships, environment and mother’s health-related factors during pregnancy, and infant’s health during first year may be risk factors for development of IBD later in life,” Ronkainen said during his presentation.

Of the 7,077 children for whom medical data were available, 157 (2.2%) were diagnosed with IBD, including 113 (1.6%) with ulcerative colitis and 44 (0.6%) with Crohn’s disease.

The investigators found the following significant associations:

  • Smoking during pregnancy and higher IBD risk (OR = 1.6; 95% CI, 1-2.3);
  • Antibiotic use during pregnancy and higher Crohn’s risk (OR = 2.9; 95% CI, 1.4-6);
  • Oral iron supplementation during infancy and lower IBD risk (OR = 0.6; 95% CI, 0.4-0.8; P = .0005);
  • Diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccination (DTP) and lower IBD risk (OR = 0.6; 95% CI, 0.4-0.9; P = 0.01); and
  • Polio vaccination and lower IBD risk (OR = 0.7; 95% CI, 0.5-1; P = 0.03).

The protective effects of early iron supplementation were “quite strong both for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis,” Ronkainen said. Breastfeeding was not associated with IBD overall but appeared to have a protective effect against Crohn’s disease, he noted. – by Adam Leitenberger

Reference:

Blomster T, et al. Abstract 56. Presented at: Digestive Disease Week; June 2-5, 2018; Washington, D.C.

Disclosures: Ronkainen reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the DDW faculty disclosure index for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.