Crohn's disease exclusion diet in children with Crohn's disease: a case series

Formula modifications to the Crohn's disease exclusion diet do not impact therapy success in paediatric Crohn's disease

OBJECTIVES

The Crohn's disease exclusion diet (CDED) + partial enteral nutrition (PEN) is an emerging diet used to induce clinical remission in children with active Crohn's disease (CD). This study aims to determine the effectiveness of using the CDED+PEN to induce clinical remission in an Australian group of children with active CD using different PEN formulas and incorporating patient dietary requirements.

METHODS

We retrospectively collected data from children (both newly diagnosed and with existing CD while on therapy) with active CD (Paediatric Crohn's Disease Activity Index [PCDAI] ≥10) and biochemical evidence of active disease (elevated C-reactive protein [CRP], erythrocyte sedimentation rate [ESR] or faecal calprotectin [FC]) who completed at least phase 1 (6 weeks) of the CDED+PEN to induce clinical remission. Data were collected at baseline, Week 6 and Week 12. The primary endpoint was clinical remission at Week 6 defined as PCDAI < 10.

RESULTS

Twenty-four children were included in phase 1 analysis (mean age 13.8 ± 3.2 years). Clinical remission at Week 6 was achieved in 17/24 (70.8%) patients. Mean PCDAI, CRP, ESR and FC decreased significantly after 6 weeks (p < 0.05). Formula type (cow's milk based, rice based, soy based) did not affect treatment efficacy. A greater than 50% decrease in FC was achieved in 14/21 (66.7%) patients who completed phase 1 and 12/14 (85.7%) patients who completed phase 2 of the CDED+PEN.

CONCLUSIONS

Formula modifications to the CDED+PEN do not impact the expected treatment efficacy in Australian children with active luminal CD.

Progress and Clinical Applications of Crohn's Disease Exclusion Diet in Crohn's Disease

Crohn's disease is a chronic intestinal inflammatory disorder of unknown etiology. Although the pharmacotherapies for Crohn's disease are constantly updating, nutritional support and adjuvant therapies have recently gained more attention. Due to advancements in clinical nutrition, various clinical nutritional therapies are used to treat Crohn's disease. Doctors treating inflammatory bowel disease can now offer several diets with more flexibility than ever. The Crohn's disease exclusion diet is a widely used diet for patients with active Crohn's disease. The Crohn's disease exclusion diet requires both exclusion and inclusion. Periodic exclusion of harmful foods and inclusion of wholesome foods gradually improves a patient's nutritional status. This article reviews the Crohn's disease exclusion diet, including its structure, mechanisms, research findings, and clinical applications.

Co-Development of Three Dietary Indices to Facilitate Dietary Intake Assessment of Pediatric Crohn's Disease Patients

Literature on dietary behaviours of the pediatric Crohn's Disease (CD) population and the relationship between dietary intake and CD activity is limited. Three dietary indices were developed and tested to conduct dietary pattern analysis in pediatric patients with CD consuming a free diet following remission induction via exclusive enteral nutrition (n = 11). Index scores underwent descriptive and inferential analysis. The mean adjusted scores (out of 100) for the Pediatric Western Diet Index, Pediatric Prudent Diet Index, and Pediatric-Adapted 2010 Alternate Healthy Eating Index (PA2010-AHEI) were 29.82 ± 15.22, 34.25 ± 15.18, and 51.50 ± 11.69, respectively. The mean Western-to-Prudent ratio was 0.94 ± 0.55. A significant correlation (r = -0.71) and relationship (F[1, 9] = 9.04, P < 0.05, R2 = 0.501) between the Western-to-Prudent ratio and PA2010-AHEI was found. The results suggest participants were not following a Western or Prudent diet, and were consuming foods not captured by the indices. More research is needed to describe dietary intake of individuals with CD, validate dietary indices in diverse samples, and explore the utility of these indices in CD assessment and treatment. The co-authors hope this work will stimulate/inspire subsequent interprofessional, dietitian-led research on this topic.

Role of adjuvant Crohn's disease exclusion diet plus enteral nutrition in asymptomatic pediatric Crohn's disease having biochemical activity: A randomized, pilot study

BACKGROUND

Conventional therapy can result in remission in mild-moderate pediatric Crohn's disease (CD). However, some patients experience loss of response to biological drugs despite increased dosage.

METHODS

We planned to determine that CD exclusion diet plus partial enteral nutrition offers additional benefits in asymptomatic children with CD having elevated fecal calprotectin. A randomized, open-label, pilot, controlled interventional study was conducted in children with CD while on medical treatment and elevated fecal calprotectin on routine testing. Patients continued their medications and were randomized into a group that received CD exclusion diet plus partial enteral nutrition for 12 weeks and one that continued a regular diet.

RESULTS

Twenty-one patients participated: 11 received CD exclusion diet plus partial enteral nutrition and 10, regular diet. Median fecal calprotectin in the CD exclusion diet plus partial enteral nutrition decreased in 9/11 to 50% of baseline, remaining practically unchanged in the regular diet, except for two patients (p = 0.005). Body mass index z-score increased in the CD exclusion diet plus partial enteral nutrition. Only 1/11 patients in the CD exclusion diet plus partial enteral nutrition group, while 4/10 in the regular diet, experienced clinical relapse (p = 0.149). Only one patient in the CD exclusion diet plus partial enteral nutrition, while eight in the regular diet, were considered to need their biologic treatment intensified (p = 0.005); 2/11 in the CD exclusion diet plus partial enteral nutrition had the dose or frequency of the biologic reduced vs. none (0/10) in the regular diet group. The short Pediatric Crohn's Disease Activity Index and anthropometry showed no significant changes in either group.

CONCLUSIONS

Diet therapy could be a useful addition to medications in children with CD in apparent remission, but elevated fecal calprotectin.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Clinical trial number: NCT05034458.

The Crohn's Disease Exclusion Diet: A Comprehensive Review of Evidence, Implementation Strategies, Practical Guidance, and Future Directions

Dietary therapy is increasingly recognized for the management of Crohn's disease (CD) over recent years, including the use of exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) as first-line therapy for pediatric CD according to current guidelines. The Crohn's disease exclusion diet (CDED) is a whole-food diet designed to reduce exposure to dietary components that are potentially pro-inflammatory, mediated by negative effects on the gut microbiota, immune response, and the intestinal barrier. The CDED has emerged as a valid alternative to EEN with cumulative evidence, including randomized controlled trials, supporting use for induction of remission and possibly maintenance in children and adults. We gathered a group of multidisciplinary experts, including pediatric and adult gastroenterologists, inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) expert dietitians, and a psychologist to discuss the evidence, identify gaps, and provide insights into improving the use of CDED based on a comprehensive review of CDED literature and professional experience. This article reviews the management of CDED in both children and adults, long-term aspects of CDED, indications and contraindications, selecting the best candidates, identifying challenges with CDED, globalization, the role of the multidisciplinary team, especially of dietitian, and future directions. We concluded that CDED is an established dietary therapy that could serve as an alternative to EEN in many pediatric and adult cases, especially with mild to moderate disease. In severe disease, complicated phenotypes, or with extraintestinal involvement, CDED should be considered on a case-by-case basis, according to physician and dietitians' discretion. More studies are warranted to assess the efficacy of CDED in different scenarios.

Treatment of Active Crohn's Disease in Children Using Partial Enteral Nutrition Combined with a Modified Crohn's Disease Exclusion Diet: A Pilot Prospective Cohort Trial on Clinical and Endoscopic Outcomes

BACKGROUND

Partial enteral nutrition (PEN) coupled with the Crohn's disease (CD) exclusion diet (CDED) was shown to be effective in inducing clinical remission in paediatric CD. There are currently no robust data on the endoscopic outcomes of PEN. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical and endoscopic rates of remission after PEN combined with a modified CDED (mCDED) adjusted to the local cuisine in comparison with exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) for the induction of remission.

METHODS

Between June 2017 and February 2021, a prospective cohort study on children with active CD, treated with PEN + mCDED or EEN, was performed at a single tertiary centre.

RESULTS

During the study period, 54 patients were screened and 15 were excluded according to the exclusion criteria, with six patients excluded in the first two days due to intolerance of the enteral formula. Fourteen patients were included in the PEN and 19 in the EEN group. They were assessed at Weeks 0, 1, 3 and 6, using clinical and laboratory parameters. Endoscopy was performed at Weeks 0 and 6. Clinical remission rates per protocol analysis were 84.6% in the PEN group and 81.3% in the EEN group (p = 0.99). At Week 6, an endoscopic response (a decline in the Simple Endoscopic Score for CD (SES-CD) > 50%) was observed in 84.6% of patients on PEN and in 68.8% on EEN treatment (p = 0.41). Endoscopic remission (SES-CD ≤ 2) was achieved in 53.8% of patients in the PEN group and in 50.0% in the EEN group (p = 0.99), while the mucosal healing rates (SES-CD = 0) were 38.5% with PEN and 43.8% with EEN (p = 0.99). A significant decline in the clinical and endoscopic activity scores was observed in both groups.

CONCLUSION

Our study suggests that PEN + mCDED could be effective in inducing endoscopic remission and mucosal healing in active paediatric CD patients. Here, we present an analysis of the data from our cohort of patients and our real-world experience with PEN + mCDED.

The Role of Diet in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease

The pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) involves a complex interaction between genetics, immune response, and the environment. Epidemiologic associations between diet and development of IBD plus the ability of diet to modify the microbiota and modulate immune function have led to the hypothesis that diet can prevent and/or treat IBD. It is well established that the induction of remission and healing of the mucosa in Crohn's disease can be accomplished with exclusive enteral nutrition. Whole food-based alternatives such as the Crohn's disease exclusion diet have shown promising results.

Nutrition in inflammatory bowel diseases; Is there a role?

Nutrition is of paramount importance not only for healthy individuals, but all the more for the ones with pathologies interlinked with the diet. In that light, diet, when used accordingly can act in a protective manner in inflammatory bowel diseases. The interplay of diet and IBD is not thoroughly defined, and guidelines are a work in progress. However, significant knowledge has been gained with regard to foods and nutrients that may exacerbate or alleviate the core symptoms. Patients with IBD restrict from their diet a plethora of foods often arbitrary, thus depriving themselves from valuable constituents. Careful navigation into the newfound field of genetic variants and personalization of diet should be employed with avoidance of the Westernized diet, processed foods and additives, and focus on a holistic approach with a balanced diet rich in bioactive compounds in order to improve the quality of life of these patients and address diet-related deficiencies.

The Therapeutic Role of Short-Chain Fatty Acids Mediated Very Low-Calorie Ketogenic Diet-Gut Microbiota Relationships in Paediatric Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

The very low-calorie ketogenic diet (VLCKD) has been recognized as a promising dietary regimen for the treatment of several diseases. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) produced by anaerobic bacterial fermentation of indigestible dietary fibre in the gut have potential value for their underlying epigenetic role in the treatment of obesity and asthma-related inflammation through mediating the relationships between VLCKD and the infant gut microbiota. However, it is still unclear how VLCKD might influence gut microbiota composition in children, and how SCFAs could play a role in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). To overcome this knowledge gap, this review aims to investigate the role of SCFAs as key epigenetic metabolites that mediate VLCKD-gut microbiota relationships in children, and their therapeutic potential in IBD.

Dietary Patterns and Gut Microbiota Changes in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Current Insights and Future Challenges

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a result of a complex interplay between genes, host immune response, gut microbiota, and environmental factors. As one of the crucial environmental factors, diet plays a pivotal role in the modulation of gut microbiota community and the development of IBD. In this review, we present an overview of dietary patterns involved in the pathogenesis and management of IBD, and analyze the associated gut microbial alterations. A Westernized diet rich in protein, fats and refined carbohydrates tends to cause dysbiosis and promote IBD progression. Some dietary patterns have been found effective in obtaining IBD clinical remission, including Crohn's Disease Exclusion Diet (CDED), Mediterranean diet (MD), Anti-Inflammatory Diet (AID), the low-"Fermentable Oligo-, Di-, Mono-saccharides and Polyols" (FODMAP) diet, Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), and plant-based diet, etc. Overall, many researchers have reported the role of diet in regulating gut microbiota and the IBD disease course. However, more prospective studies are required to achieve consistent and solid conclusions in the future. This review provides some recommendations for studies exploring novel and potential dietary strategies that prevent IBD.

Crohn’s Disease, Host–Microbiota Interactions, and Immunonutrition: Dietary Strategies Targeting Gut Microbiome as Novel Therapeutic Approaches

Crohn’s disease (CD) is a complex, disabling, idiopathic, progressive, and destructive disorder with an unknown etiology. The pathogenesis of CD is multifactorial and involves the interplay between host genetics, and environmental factors, resulting in an aberrant immune response leading to intestinal inflammation. Due to the high morbidity and long-term management of CD, the development of non-pharmacological approaches to mitigate the severity of CD has recently attracted great attention. The gut microbiota has been recognized as an important player in the development of CD, and general alterations in the gut microbiome have been established in these patients. Thus, the gut microbiome has emerged as a pre-eminent target for potential new treatments in CD. Epidemiological and interventional studies have demonstrated that diet could impact the gut microbiome in terms of composition and functionality. However, how specific dietary strategies could modulate the gut microbiota composition and how this would impact host–microbe interactions in CD are still unclear. In this review, we discuss the most recent knowledge on host–microbe interactions and their involvement in CD pathogenesis and severity, and we highlight the most up-to-date information on gut microbiota modulation through nutritional strategies, focusing on the role of the microbiota in gut inflammation and immunity.