Pancreatic Disorders in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Etiologies of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency

Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) is a major cause of maldigestion and malnutrition, resulting from primary pancreatic diseases or other conditions. As the prevalence of EPI continues to rise, accurate identification of its etiology has become critical for the diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic secretory insufficiency. EPI can result from both pancreatic and non-pancreatic disorders. Pancreatic disorders include acute and chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic tumors, cystic fibrosis, procedures that involve pancreatic resection, and other rare causes. Non-pancreatic disorders of EPI include diabetes mellitus, celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, gastrointestinal and esophagectomy surgery, as well as advanced patient age. This review aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the literature on EPI etiology, with a thorough overview to support its consideration as a potential diagnosis.

Clinical Features of Thiopurine-Induced Acute Pancreatitis: Comparison Between Patients With and Without Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Background and Aims

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are at increased risk of developing acute pancreatitis (AP). Thiopurines (TP) are a well-known cause of AP. The aims of this study were to compare the incidence of AP and TP-induced AP (TIP) between patients with and without IBD under the use of TP and to assess for risk factors of TIP.

Methods

We examined a retrospective cohort of 664 patients treated with TP from 2016 to 2021 at our institution. AP was defined as pancreatitis confirmed by symptoms, serum tests, and radiology, and TIP as AP occurring shortly after starting TP and improving after withdrawal. We compared the incidence of AP and TIP between patients with and without IBD and reviewed the clinical features of TIP patients in detail.

Results

There were 366 IBD patients and 298 without IBD. IBD patients included 249 males (52.4%) with a median age of 39 years. Among them, 211 had ulcerative colitis (UC) and 155 had Crohn's disease (CD). Azathioprine was administered to 560 patients, and 6-mercaptopurine to 104. AP occurred in 13 IBD patients but in none without IBD, with a significantly higher incidence in IBD patients (1.9% vs. 0%, P = .009). Seven of 13 patients with AP satisfied the criteria for TIP. Furthermore, 5 of the 7 TIP patients had a prior history of 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) intolerance.

Conclusions

TIP may be a condition specific to IBD. IBD patients with 5-ASA intolerance are prone to TIP.

Risk Factors for Gallstones in Crohn's Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

Crohn's disease (CD) have an increased risk of gallstone disease. We aimed to systematically evaluate the prevalence rate and relevant risk factors of gallstones in CD patients.

METHODS

A comprehensive search of PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases from inception to September 10, 2023, identified studies investigating risk factors for gallstone development among CD patients. Gender, age, body mass index, disease duration, disease site, stenosis, prior surgery, hospitalization times, corticosteroids, immunomodulators, and total parenteral nutrition (TPN) were assessed as potential risk factors. Odds ratios (OR) and confidence intervals (CI) were calculated.

RESULT

Among 1184 articles, 11 observational studies (3588 patients) were included. The prevalence of CD patients with gallstones was approximately 14.7%. Factors significantly associated with increased gallstone risk included Age ≥ 40 years old (OR 3.06, 95% CI 2.09- 4.48), disease duration > 15 years (OR 3.01, 95% CI 2.06-4.42), lifetime surgery(OR 2.50, 95% CI 1.99-3.12), disease located in ileocolon (OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.04-1.83) and ileocecal(OR 1.93, 95% CI 1.16-3.21), multiple hospitalizations(OR 4.26, 95% CI 2.43-7.46), corticosteroid treatments(OR 2.65, 95% CI 1.52-4.63), immunomodulator therapy(OR 1.94, 95% CI 1.12-3.38), and TPN use(OR 2.66, 95% CI 1.29-5.51). Sex, stenosis, overweight, or low weight did not significantly increase the risk of gallstone developing.

CONCLUSION

Age, long disease duration, specific disease locations (ileocolon, ileocecal), surgery, number of hospitalizations, corticosteroids, immunomodulator therapy, and TPN were identified as factors that increased the risk of gallstones in CD patients. About 14.7% of CD patients experience gallstones, so raising awareness and implementing prevention are needed.

REGISTRATION

PROSPERO (CRD42023449299).

Causal association between inflammatory bowel disease and acute pancreatitis: a two-sample bidirectional mendelian randomization study

BACKGROUND

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is an extraintestinal manifestation of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Numerous observational studies have reported an increased risk of AP in patients diagnosed with IBD. However, the causal association and directionality between IBD or its subtypes and the development of AP remains unclear due to the limitations of observational research. This study aims to explore the relationship between IBD or its subtypes and AP risk using Mendelian Randomization (MR) method.

METHODS

A two-sample bidirectional MR study was conducted, selecting genetic variants associated with IBD and AP as instrumental variables from the International Inflammatory Bowel Disease Genetics Consortium (IIBDGC) and FinnGen databases, respectively. The inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method used as the primary approach for causal inference. The Cochran Q test was employed for heterogeneity assessment. Sensitivity analyses were performed using the MR Egger intercept test, MR-Presso, and Leave-one-out method.

RESULTS

The results revealed that IBD (OR = 1.049, 95% CI = 1.010-1.090, p = 0.013) and ulcerative colitis (UC) (OR = 1.057, 95% CI = 1.013-1.102, p = 0.011) were significantly associated with an increased risk of AP. However, Crohn's disease (CD) (OR = 1.023, 95% CI = 0.993-1.055, p = 0.134) did not show a causal association with the risk of AP. Interestingly, AP was suggestively associated with a decreased risk of CD (OR = 0.797, 95% CI = 0.637-0.997, p = 0.047). Furthermore, there was no causal association between AP and the risk of IBD (OR = 0.886, 95% CI = 0.753-1.042, p = 0.144) or UC (OR = 0.947, 95% CI = 0.773-1.159, p = 0.595).

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, this study provides genetic evidence supporting the causal influence of IBD (specifically UC) on AP, while CD does not appear to have a causal impact on AP.

Drug-induced acute pancreatitis due to medications used for inflammatory bowel disease: A VigiBase pharmacovigilance database study

BACKGROUND

Nearly all medications used for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have been reported as causes of acute pancreatitis (AP), with the thiopurines being among the most frequently described. However, with the development of newer medications, thiopurine monotherapy has largely been replaced by newer immunosuppressive drugs. There are few data on the association between AP and biologic/small molecule agents.

METHODS

VigiBase, the World Health Organization's Global Individual Case Safety Report database, was used to assess the association between AP and common IBD medications. A case/non-case disproportionality analysis was performed and disproportionality signals were reported as a reporting odds ratio (ROR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

RESULTS

A total of 4,223 AP episodes were identified for common IBD medications. Azathioprine (ROR 19.18, 95% CI 18.21-20.20), 6-mercaptopurine (ROR 13.30, 95% CI 11.73-15.07), and 5-aminosalicylic acid (ROR 17.44, 95% CI 16.24-18.72) all had strong associations with AP, while the biologic/small molecule agents showed weaker or no disproportionality. The association with AP was much higher for thiopurines when used for Crohn's disease (ROR 34.61, 95% CI 30.95-38.70) compared to ulcerative colitis (ROR 8.94, 95% CI 7.47-10.71) or rheumatologic conditions (ROR 18.87, 95% CI 14.72-24.19).

CONCLUSIONS

We report the largest real-world database study investigating the association between common IBD medications and AP. Among commonly used IBD medications including biologic/small molecule agents, only thiopurines and 5-aminosalicylic acid are strongly associated with AP. The association between thiopurines and AP is much stronger when the drug is used for Crohn's disease compared to ulcerative colitis and rheumatologic conditions.

A Clinical and Pathophysiological Overview of Intestinal and Systemic Diseases Associated with Pancreatic Disorders: Causality or Casualty?

The relationship between chronic intestinal disease, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and celiac disease (CelD), and pancreatic disorders has been little investigated. Although an increased risk of acute pancreatitis (AP), exocrine pancreatic insufficiency with or without chronic pancreatitis, and chronic asymptomatic pancreatic hyperenzymemia have been described in these patients, the pathogenetic link remains unclear. It may potentially involve drugs, altered microcirculation, gut permeability/motility with disruption of enteric-mediated hormone secretion, bacterial translocation, and activation of the gut-associated lymphoid tissue related to chronic inflammation. In addition, the risk of pancreatic cancer seems to be increased in both IBD and CelD patients with unknown pathogenesis. Finally, other systemic conditions (e.g., IgG4-related disease, sarcoidosis, vasculitides) might affect pancreatic gland and the intestinal tract with various clinical manifestations. This review includes the current understandings of this enigmatic association, reporting a clinical and pathophysiological overview about this topic.

Tetrahedral Framework Nucleic Acids Can Alleviate Taurocholate-Induced Severe Acute Pancreatitis and Its Subsequent Multiorgan Injury in Mice

Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) is an inflammatory disease of the pancreas accompanied by tissue injury and necrosis. It not only affects the pancreas but also triggers a systemic inflammatory response that leads to multiorgan failure or even death. Moreover, there is no effective treatment currently that can reverse the disease progression. In this study, tetrahedral framework nucleic acids (tFNAs) were utilized to treat SAP in mice for the first time and proved to be effective in suppressing inflammation and preventing pathological cell death. Serum levels of pancreatitis-related biomarkers witnessed significant changes after tFNAs treatment. Reduction in the expression of certain cytokines involved in local and systemic inflammatory response were observed, together with alteration in proteins related to cell death and apoptosis. Collectively, our results demonstrate that tFNAs could both alleviate SAP and its subsequent multiorgan injury in mice, thus offering a novel and effective option to deal with SAP in the future.