7 recent reports on IBD

Healio Gastroenterology presents the following reports on the most recent research on inflammatory bowel disease.

These reports include new research on the impact of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and diet, as well as news on the COVID-19 vaccine.

NAFLD linked with increased readmissions in IBD

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease who also had non-alcoholic fatty liver disease had higher readmission rates, according to research presented at Crohn’s and Colitis Congress.

“NAFLD is highly prevalent in IBD patients,” Shaya Noorian, MD, of the University of California, Los Angeles, said in his presentation. “Currently, there is a paucity of data examining the impact of NAFLD on clinical outcomes in IBD patients.” READ MORE

Patients with IBD should receive COVID-19 vaccine, despite concerns

Physicians should encourage patients with inflammatory bowel disease to get the COVID-19 vaccination despite lack of studies on the cohort, according to a presentation at the Crohn’s and Colitis Congress.

“For patients with IBD we would advocate, based on [International Organization for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IOIBD)], that patients get vaccinated, acknowledging that there is a lack of data specifically in IBD patients,” Ryan C. Ungaro, MD, MS, gastroenterologist with Mount Sinai Hospital’s Feinstein IBD Center, told Healio Gastroenterology. “But we think the benefits out weight the risks and based on prior experience with vaccinations in IBD patients.” READ MORE

VIDEO: Ask patients with IBD, ‘how happy are you?’

In this exclusive video from Crohn’s and Colitis Congress, Laurie Keefer, PhD, from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, discusses her presentation on subjective well-being in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Keefer said it is important to assess patients for quality of life beyond disease-related measures, adding that it can be as easy as asking patients how happy they are with their lives as a whole. READ MORE

Children with active CD consume diet with significantly lower amount of fiber

Study results demonstrated diet may differentially influence the gut microbiome in children with Crohn’s disease, according to a presentation at the Crohn’s and Colitis Congress.

“Both children with CD and healthy children in North America consume a Westernized diet which is low in fiber, more significantly low in children with active CD,” Jessica Breton, MD, from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said during her presentation. “Our results also significantly show diet may exert a differential influence on the gut microbiome depending on the clinical disease status.” READ MORE

Children treated with anti-TNF therapy at risk for weight gain, obesity

Children with inflammatory bowel disease who receive anti-tumor necrosis factor treatment were more likely to see BMI levels increase and incur a risk for obesity, according to a presentation at Crohn’s and Colitis Congress.

“Crohn’s disease patients with anti-TNF exposure have a significant increase in BMI z score over time as compared to those unexposed and while for most of our patients, this increase in BMI z score is likely restorative, there is a subset of Crohn’s disease patients where anti-TNF therapy may be a risk factor for excessive weight gain and obesity,” Elana B. Mitchel, MD, MSCE, said in her presentation. READ MORE

Specific carbohydrate diets, even modified, improve pediatric IBD symptoms

Pediatric patients adhering to a specific carbohydrate diet or modified specific carbohydrate diet showed improved symptoms of their inflammatory bowel disease, according to a presentation at Crohn’s and Colitis Congress.

“We took a unique way of investigating diet ... something called n-of-1 trials, which has significant benefit for looking at diet in conditions such as IBD. With n-of-1 trials, it’s a single subject experimental design where the patient serves as their own control and treatment is systemically varied over time,” David Suskind, MD, said during his presentation of the PRODUCE study. “We used a series of n-of-1 trials to determine the effectiveness of the specific carbohydrate diet [SCD] in reducing symptoms and inflammation in patients with IBD as compared to a modified SCD as well as their usual diet. The advantage to n-of-1 trials is that it gives not only information for the individual but, when aggregated, population level information.” READ MORE

Dietary therapy plus medical therapy may better improve outcomes in IBD

A presentation at the Crohn’s and Colitis Congress highlighted recent updates on dietary therapy for inflammatory bowel disease.

Arie Levine, MD, professor, Edith Wolfson Medical Center Pediatric Gastroenterology Unit at Tel Aviv University in Israel, spoke about recent updates regarding the Crohn’s Disease Exclusion Diet for patients with CD and the low FODMAP diet for irritable bowel syndrome symptoms in patients with IBD. READ MORE